An aristocrat has been given the go-ahead to build a massive steel monument to the Queen that has been blasted as looking like a “toothpick” and a “monstrosity” by locals.
Viscount Devonport has had a battle for planning permission for his 55m (180ft) tribute to the monarch at his Ray Demesne estate, in Northumberland, with the monument being called a potential eye sore.
The £3 million structure will be three times higher than the Angel of the North and will be constructed at Cold Law, a summit on the aristocrat’s estate near Kirkwhelpington.
The idea is that the blade-like monument resembles a slice of the hill which has been tilted and pointed to the sun at its zenith on Midsummer’s Day, said planning documents.
But residents and campaigners against the construction have said it looks like a giant toothpick and called it a “monstrosity”.
Viscount Devonport wants “The Elizabeth Landmark” to honour the UK’s longest reigning monarch and her “anchoring of the Commonwealth around shared values of tolerance, respect and understanding,” reported The Times.
He said in a statement: “I am delighted that the Planning Inspector has supported our project and that the committee's refusal in 2019 has been overturned.
"It is our ambition to create a sculpture that is not only celebratory of Queen Elizabeth II and The Commonwealth, but which is also a magnificent piece of artwork that acts as a beacon for visitors and tourists to the region – benefiting the local rural economy and businesses alike as does the Ray Windfarm.”
At the same time a Facebook group with around 2,000 members called Keep the Wannies Wild, set up in protest to the monument, said it would “introduce an eye-catching but alien feature into a cherished landscape.”
The viscount has now been given the green light for the structure on appeal after it was originally turned down in 2019.
It was decided in the enquiry that the site was not as remote as had been claimed by opponents and it could make a “contribution” to the area.
Phillip Ware, the planning inspector, wrote: “Although I consider that there would be some minor landscape and visual effects, the proposal would be of an appropriate form and scale which could be accommodated within the local and wider landscape context.”
Opponents, though, were fuming with one also citing the environmental impact.
They said: “In the week of Cop26, what could be a more pointless use of resources and human effort than installing that?”
