PeterVenkman

Personally, I'm a big fan. I live on Ryedale and pass the bollards and catch the bus at the sub-station each day. The scheme is colourful and vibrant and has a naturistic theme. Prior to painting - the the sub-station was a cheap masonry paint rouge and the bollards were unfinished primer. The artwork helps brings a welcome individuality to this short stretch. Let the Public Realm Officer loose with ?400k and 15-20% (?60k-?80k) will go on external 'professional fees and consultancy'. Happy with your tax being spent like that? It certainly puts the ?20k into perspective. The Southwark Council Mural Project conveys a community-centric feel and I agree with a forumites who have suggested this is something that could be expanded to include the contributions of schools and business owners. (I would like to see a red and white striped bollard outside of the barbers!) I would be interested to know how the businesses feel about it and it is encouraging to hear owners like Nicholas Driving Academy responding positively. I don't know what the objectors would like to see but I can tell you that the majority of street furniture procured by Local Authorities and specifiers on a budget is lifeless, un-inspired and tends to come in a matt black or brushed stainless steel "for a modern and sleek" finish. Bollards are protection measures and not required to be high visibility. If they were, the finish would be LED illuminated and Scotch3M reflective bands - very nice. Couple that with the poor choice of paving finishes, new parking restrictions, a Buck Rogers bus-stop and further highways alterations for good measure and I anticipate that there will be much regret over encouraging the demise of the twatty boho-chic contemporary street art. For the classicists, I expect there will be no victorian canopy revivals or ornate cast iron furniture - bolstered with vandal and theft resistant measures. I have been in this area not for ages, but long enough to have witnessed a general uplift in the mood and feeling of the stretch that has been brought about by the businesses who have made an initial investment, worked hard to create success and have then further invested in the external appearance of their properties and business. This in my mind is what has created the most significant positive social and visual impact to the stretch and is probably the catalyst for attracting the attention of Southwark Council. I'm cynical with regards to its motivation for stalling an endearing scheme of modest cost already well underway and superseding it with an external landscape architect and/or town planning consultants fee-earning wet dream.