Council spend £30,000 on Snoopy trail which has been vandalised
Rhiannon James, local democracy reporter
Caerphilly County Borough Council has spent thousands of pounds on the Dog’s Trust Snoopy trail without consulting councillors or the public.
Six sculptures, inspired by the Peanuts comic strip character Snoopy, are located around Caerphilly town centre.
The council has spent £30,000 to sponsor all six of the sculptures, but said the sponsorship was “not a matter that required a Cabinet report”.
The aim of the trail was that each sculpture in Caerphilly County Borough, Cardiff, and Porthcawl, would be sponsored by a business or individual, and then auctioned after the campaign to raise further funds for Dogs Trust, but in Caerphilly, only the council has sponsored the statues.
Funding for the trail came from the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns Business Revenue Fund. According to the council, this money aims to increase footfall in town centres through events.
Vandalised
A council spokesperson said: “The council is pleased to be working in partnership with Dogs Trust and other local authorities across the region to support this initiative. As well as raising money for charity, the exciting new trail will promote tourism, encourage visitors into the area and boost the local economy.”
The trail is running until June 5. However, multiple sculptures have already been vandalised since the trail began on April 8.
In addition to the six large statues, numerous mini statues decorated by school children from across Caerphilly County Borough are also included in the trail.
The sculptures were decorated with artwork depicting the children’s local communities, as well as themes of inclusivity, diversity and protecting the environment.
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Well, talk about a story with no good guys. £30,000 from the public purse for decorated statues of Snoopy based on the same themes currently being pumped by plutocratic ideologues in massive corporations and the senseless destruction of property by mindless fools with nothing better to do. What a cultural wasteland we are becoming. Who would’ve thought that giving over the reins of the culture to a bunch of suits who got passed over for a regional manager’s role at Home Bargains would end up with stories like this? Cymru is slowly Milton Keynesing ourselves, undergoing a Slough-ening. Getting a… Read more »
So no consultation with council officers or public ends in a total waste of £30,000. The money came from the Welsh Government’s Business Revenue Fund.
How, exactly, does sticking dog statues around the Borough Transform Town Business?
Another example of government, both national and local wasting money.
For God’s sake…. we’ve got people starving and relying on food banks, rampant inflation and a fuel price crisis and what do governments decide we need?…. dog models.
It beggars belief!
If the children of that borough enjoy the statues and the town is brightened up with them . Then isn’t that worth 30 grand. I know i’d rather those figures than some ex slaver statue.
Anyone erecting statues of ex-slavers nowadays?