Our bungling council spent £40k of our money on a giant ROCK – they say it’s a ‘sculpture’ but it’s an embarrassment
Our bungling council spent £40k of our money on a giant ROCK – they say it’s a ‘sculpture’ but it’s an embarrassment
Share:
A BUNGLING council has been slammed as an embarrassment for spending almost £40,000 on building a giant rock "sculpture". Nottinghamshire residents helped foot the hefty bill for the construction of The Scrooby Rock, a memorial to the Mayflower Pilgrims.
![[Engraved illustration of the Pilgrim Fathers departing England.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/engraved-illustration-pilgrim-fathers-leaving-701748634.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The project was officially unveiled in September 2024, with Conservative-run Nottinghamshire County Council providing a £37,400 grant to help fund the £60,000 art installation. However, many have criticised the project and accused the authority of hypocrisy, including multiple leading county councillors.
![[Group of people posing next to a large rock sculpture.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/rocky-horror-bungling-council-spent-967150973.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Former Council Leader Ben Bradley raised concerns in 2024 over Newark and Sherwood District Council's £81,240 bill for sculptures. It had chosen to place the Kiddey Stones, a set of historic sculptures that had been kept under cover in a cemetery for decades, outside its new headquarters.
The district council's scheme was branded "disappointing" by Councillor Bradley at the time, who added: "We all know local government is under huge financial pressure, with more people coming through the door in need of support. "It's important we encourage partners to focus on that, rather than nice shiny things we'd all like to spend money on.".
The county council's £40,000 spend on The Scrooby Rock was raised at a County Hall meeting on January 23 when independent councillor Francis Purdue-Horan said: "When Newark revealed plans last year to spend £80,000, moving sculptures by famous Nottinghamshire son Robert Kiddey, it was branded 'really disappointing' and a 'waste of money' by senior members of this county council.
