East Riding ponders iconic emblem

Officials want a recognisable feature as well as the bridge

A row has broken out over plans to spend £20,000 on a landmark sculpture for the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Yorkshire Forward and the East Riding of Yorkshire Council are planning to fund a sculpture near the Humber Bridge similar to the Angel of the North.

Some councillors say the money could be better spent. Councillor Brian Jeffries said the bridge itself was a landmark.

But Andrew Milner, assistant chief executive for East Riding Council, said the region needed to raise its profile.

Councillor Jeffries said: "I don't doubt public art could be used to attract people to the region, something as a tourist attraction.

"We already have a massive tourist attraction with the Humber Bridge.

"That is the wrong location in terms of a tourist attraction.

We're talking about creating an iconic piece of work that will bring a greater focus to the East Riding, put it on the map Andrew Milner

"I'm also concerned about the amount of money it might cost, the Angel of the North cost £800,000.

"We don't want that sort of money spending on the Humber Bridge roundabout from taxpayers money.

But Mr Milner countered saying: "What we need in this area is more investment, more investment from the companies who want to come to this region, bringing more employment.

"What the Angel of the North equivalent would do would be to bring a higher profile to the East Riding of Yorkshire.

"The [Humber] bridge is large, but we want to bring a focus to the East Riding of Yorkshire and what we've done is go out to sculptures and invite them to submit bids to give us an idea of what might be possible.

"We've also got a school in Hull, Craven Primary who've used this as a learning opportunity and have put their own ideas forward.

"With a panel of judges what we'll be doing is putting a small sample out into the community for consultation.

"We're talking about creating an iconic piece of work that will bring a greater focus to the East Riding, put it on the map."