Wyndham council has wasted $106,000 of ratepayers’ money after it mothballed plans to commission a piece of public art.
The $583,000 artwork, Escape the Golden Sun, depicts a golden sun moth, a plane, a bird of prey and fire. It was meant to greet visitors arriving in the city from Geelong.
But last week councillors deemed it too expensive.
Cr Peter Maynard said he could not support commissioning the piece
when many community groups had their funding cut in this year’s council
budget.
Councillors Bob Fairclough and Intaj Khan said they would struggle to justify the expense to ratepayers.
The council has been trying to find a piece of public artwork for its western entrance since 2006.
Funding for Escape the Golden Sun was set aside in the council’s 2012-13 budget and $106,000 has already been spent on the project.
The artwork was chosen from 38 submissions. It was recommended
to the council by its public art selection committee, which said the
piece would be popular with residents and would become a symbol of their
childhood. Mayor Heather Marcus, who was part of the selection
committee, said Escape the Golden Sun would be the “crowning achievement” of Wyndham.
She said the piece signalled the city’s vitality and would give it a point of difference.
Cr Shane Bourke said people had dedicated almost seven years to
finding the right artwork for the western entrance to the municipality.
“We have already spent $106,000. I’m tired of saying we can’t afford it. This is about putting this municipality on the map.”
