Starfish trail drowning in red tape, artists say

Starfish sculptures intended to form a new art trail have yet to be installed because each one requires its own planning permission, the group behind them has said.

The trail of 18 artworks has been planned for the seaside resort of Hornsea, East Yorkshire.

Sher King, of Hornsea Collective, which is behind the project, described the hold-up as "absolutely bonkers" and criticised East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) for a lack of support.

ERYC said permission was required because "the size and scale of these sculptures" would "change the appearance" of buildings. More information had been requested from the group and the council would then offer "detailed advice".

Hornsea Collective had hoped to put up the first six sculptures in February.

The group said previous art trails, such as A Moth for Amy – which featured 59 giant fiberglass moths in locations around East Yorkshire – had not had to jump through planning hoops.

King said: "We're extremely frustrated.

"You would have thought [the council] would have had a bit of generosity of spirit.

"We've got people giving up their time, giving up their valuable skill set to do this all for nothing."

Hornsea Collective estimated the cost of obtaining consent for each sculpture at between £1,400 and £2,000, including fees and architectural drawings.

Claire Huby, who was project director for A Moth for Amy in 2016-17 and has worked on three other sculpture trails, said she was surprised to hear about the problems the project was facing.

The trails she worked on had been considered "de minimis" – too insignificant to require planning consent – because they were temporary structures.

"We were never required to provide architects' drawings – in fact, we didn't have to do anything with planning. We were told we could just go ahead.

"We had advice about not trying to do anything on listed buildings and kept them [the councils] informed on where they were going to be."

Huby said a "modest investment" in art trails provided a "a huge return", with benefits for health, wellbeing and footfall.

According to Hornsea Collective, the first of the starfish – earmarked for the town's Floral Hall – is in the hands of ERYC's planning department.

Architect Phil Bingham said he had waived his usual fee of £800 and provided drawings free of charge, in order "to give something back".

He suggested the planning requirements probably stemmed from locations being in a conservation area, "where rules are a little bit more controlled".

In a statement, ERYC said it had been able to take a "pragmatic approach" to previous art trails, which tended to be "free‑standing installations sited on a temporary basis".

However, the starfish works could not be considered "de minimis" because of "the size and scale of these sculptures".

They would be over 4.3ft (1.3sq m) in size, fixed to buildings and "project outwards", the statement said.

This meant they would "change the appearance of the buildings" and "have some permanence".

"This amounts to development for which planning permission is required," ERYC added.

"The council is requesting more information – including exact locations and how long the installations will remain in place – before giving detailed advice on whether each site is suitable and the relevant consents that will be required."

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