The presence of a “mermaid” statue in Blackpool town centre is an “unlucky omen” that will bring the town “bad luck," a Tory councillor has warned.
Blackpool Council submitted plans to install the life-sized figure outside the town hall on Talbot Square in October. The statue, which will stand at two-metres tall and a metre wide, will be cast in bronze but painted blue.
But Conservative group leader Tony Williams, who represents Anchorsholme, voiced his disapproval of the statue on social media and said he would rather the funding being used for it go into “tidying up the town hall before it starts to crumble”.
In a Facebook post, he wrote that mermaids appear as bad omens in British folklore, “both foretelling disaster and provoking it”, adding: “I don’t think Blackpool needs anymore bad luck or needs to tempt fate.”
The £35,000 sculpture, titled Call From The Sea, has also been criticised by the Blackpool Civic Trust due to conservation concerns rather than warnings of ill fate.
The trust said in a statement: “From a safety point of view this application should be refused given its proximity to the main road and tramway.
“Also the statue has no historical significance or connection with the area and this could result in other landlords seeking to attract customers to their premises and this presents an obstruction to disabled people.”
Artist Laurence Payot, from Liverpool, said the statue’s design was inspired by sea goddesses “who usually symbolise fertility and motherhood, and the protection of the environment and of all living things”.
She added that although the initial design began with the idea of a mermaid, the final version did not have any direct traits of a mermaid.
“I don’t see how this could bring bad luck; she represents the new generations and our future,” Ms Payot told the BBC.
A spokesperson for Blackpool Council said the statue will “represent the strong connection Blackpool has with the Irish Sea by creating a new local sea character with a mythical feel”.
If the town’s planning committee approves the plans for the statue, it will be erected in April.
