Livingstone Budgets £100,000 To Fight Mandela Statue Appeal Hearings

9.49.05am GMT Fri 5th Nov 2004

£100,000 of taxpayers' money has been set aside by Ken Livingstone to fight the appeal against Westminster City Council's decision to refuse permission to build the statue of Nelson Mandela on the north terrace of Trafalgar Square, the London Assembly Liberal Democrats revealed today.

The figures, revealed in Mayoral expenditure approval forms, show that £35,000 might need to be spent this year with a further £65,000 in 2005/06, to meet the costs of the refusal by Westminster City Council to place the 9ft statue of Nelson Mandela by South Africa House.

The Liberal Democrats today called for the Council and the Mayor to sort out the differences without having to spend taxpayers' money in appeal hearings.

Liberal Democrat London Assembly Culture Spokesperson, Dee Doocey, said: "It is sad and disappointing that both the Mayor and Westminster City Council are stubbornly refusing to get round the table and sort out their differences about where the statue of Nelson Mandela goes.

"It is a sad state of affairs when the erection of a statue of one of the true modern day icons is dragged into expensive legal bickering. It is ironic that the statue of the man who embodied freedom is now bogged down in so much bureaucracy.

"These arguments delay the small token of appreciation London can give to Nelson Mandela for his heroic and tireless fight against racism and apartheid.

"Thousands of pounds of taxpayers money is set to be wasted in these costly arguments. It is time that Westminster Council and the Mayor buried the hatchet and found a way to resolve their differences so that London can proudly recognise the work of Dr Mandela."

ENDS

Notes to editor

The Mayor's Report published on Thursday 4th November includes:-

Trafalgar Square

Mandela Statue

I have agreed to contribute up to £100,000 by amending the Mandela Statue Fund Project Funding Agreement to the Mandela Statue Fund to meet the costs of the appeal against Westminster Council's Planning and City Development Committee decision, made on 1 July 2004, to refuse planning permission for the erection of a statue of Nelson Mandela on the north east corner of the North Terrace of Trafalgar Square.

I have agreed that a virement of £35,000 will be made from the SDS Programme to the Squares budget and to growth of £65,000 in the 2005/06 budget.

· Ken Livingstone originally proposed the erection of the statue in April 2001

· The original plan was for the statue to be unveiled in April 2004, on the 10th anniversary of democracy in South Africa

· In May 2003, the Westminster's public arts advisory panel advises the borough's planning committee said the 2.7 metre (9ft) bronze would not fit in with the rest of the square, which is being revamped

· In July 2004, Westminster City Council refused planning permission for the statue of Nelson Mandela to be erected on the north terrace of Trafalgar Square.

· Ken Livingstone, Rt Hon Tony Blair, Rt Hon Charles Kennedy MP, Baroness Chalker, Sir Richard Branson, Lord Haskins, Lord Howe, Lord Owen and Lord Steel are honorary patrons of the Nelson Mandela Statue Fund.