Lord Nelson Statue Faces Removal From Chichester
Plans to keep a statue of Lord Nelson outside Chichester's Council House permanently have been refused.
The resin and bronze sculpture, which also features Admiral Sir George Murray, was installed outside Murray's former home in North Street in 2020 under temporary planning permission.
That permission was extended for a further year in 2025, and Chichester City Council has since applied to retain the statue permanently.
However, a planning officer has rejected the application, citing concerns that the resin material would deteriorate over time and harm the character of the Conservation Area and the setting of the Grade II* listed Council House.
In a report, the council's conservation and design officer said:
"The statue is resin, and even with high quality components and the correct maintenance this has a relatively short lifespan of 10-30 years in an external setting."
The officer added that the sculpture, having already been exposed to the elements for several years, would eventually "fade, soften and crack".
The report also noted that Chichester's other public statues are made from bronze, allowing them to weather naturally in keeping with the city's historic surroundings.
While acknowledging the artwork was "not without merit", the officer also criticised its proportions.
The report said:
"The statue is strangely proportioned. It is at a scale less than 100 per cent of an adult human."
It added that public statues are traditionally created at a larger-than-life scale to give them greater visual impact.
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