A Crewe political leader has slammed Cheshire East Council's planned heritage wall for Crewe town centre - costing up to £50,000 to erect.

Brian Silvester, leader of 'Putting Crewe First,' expressed his frustration at the cost and plans of a new Crewe Heritage Wall for the town centre.

Following an FOI (Freedom Of Information Request), submitted by Mr Silvester - Cheshire East Council confirmed the details of the planned artwork.

Brian Silvester, leader of 'Putting Crewe First,' expressed his frustration at the cost and plans of a new Crewe Heritage Wall for the town centre (Brian Silvester).

The Crewe party political leader councillor told Nub News today (October 3):

"Crewe's 'Heritage Wall' cost £5,625 to design and will cost up to £50,000 to erect.

"The Historic Crewe Works Wall in West Street was an actual Heritage Wall but it was demolished by developers in 2019 and Cheshire East did nothing to stop it being demolished.

"It can never be replaced and the vast majority of Crewe residents don't want up to £50,000 of their Council tax money being spent on a fake 'Heritage Wall'.

"The money would be far better spent on filling potholes, clearing drains and keeping Crewe clean and tidy.

Brian Silvester is furious the Bombardier wall on West Street was allowed to be knocked down (Tim Prevett).

"It would be far better spent on real priorities. Nobody in Crewe asked for a fake 'Heritage Wall.'

"The proposed 'Heritage Wall' is yet another example of how out of touch the Cheshire East Council is with the people of Crewe.

"In July, Cheshire East Council began a consultation, (then quickly curtailed it because of the almost universal negative feedback), on two designs for a "Heritage Wall" on the town centre re-development site, on a wall of the proposed new 450 space multi-storey car park.

"Following a Freedom of Information request from 'Putting Crewe First,' the following information, in answer to our questions, is below.

Who was asked to submit designs?

The Forged by Hand Crewe town centre artwork proposal - later scrapped (Cheshire East Council).

Cheshire East Council responded: "The artistic tender was as an 'open call' via national and local artists and networks, including a website commonly used for public art projects.

"Ten tenders were received including four local artists. Tenders were evaluated against specific scoring criteria relating to the designers' experience, skills, proposed approach and cost.

"An additional weighting was given to local artists based in Cheshire East. The best tender overall was Orakel Workshop."

Were local firms and schools asked to submit designs?

Cheshire East Council responded:"Local artists were invited to tender and four tenders were received from local artists.

"Given the nature of the material and other technical requirements such as building regulations, a professional artist with experience of major public art projects was sought, so schools were not invited to tender."

What is the cost of the proposal up to the consultation stage?

Both Crewe artwork proposals, submitted in July, were scrapped. They both receieved a negative reception (Crewe Nub News).

Cheshire East Council responded: "£5,625 has been incurred or committed to date."

Why was the consultation pulled?

Cheshire East Council responded: "The Council determined that further engagement with key stakeholders was required prior to a public consultation."

When the Heritage Wall is finally built what is the budgeted cost and where will that money come from?

Cheshire East Council responded: "The Heritage Wall, along with the rest of the Royal Arcade Phase 1 scheme (new multi-storey car park and bus station), is being delivered by Peveril Securities.

"They have budgeted up to £50,000 to include the heritage wall manufacture, assembly and installation, as part of the overall cost of the project."

The first artwork design option – 'Forged by Hand' – reflected Crewe's past while 'looking ahead to what regeneration can bring in the future'.

The new road being constructed in Crewe town centre for the Royal Arcade development - September 28 (Ryan Parker).

It featured the town's name, alongside historical images of people working in the industries that helped to shape Crewe, with patterns relating to its heritage combined with cogs and locomotive wheels.

The second design option – 'Crewe are people powered' – shares images of people at work in the town's well-known industries, as well as at play in Crewe's carnival.

A background image featuring detail taken from a map of Crewe Works was woven in to complete the effect.

Cheshire East Council hopes to provide a public consultation on the new Royal Arcade artwork within the next month.

READ MORE: Former Crewe manager and assistant temporarily take charge of Premier League team.

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