Councillors have agreed to plug “desperately needed” money into brightening up the borough with artwork.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council’s management committee approved proposals to spend £123,000 on commissioning public art in the area. 

In addition to this, the committee also agreed a one-off grant of £17,000 for Weymouth Museum, to help with the creation of a stage one bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the creation of a new museum at Brewers Quay.

Cllr James Farquharson, who is director of Weymouth Museum, stressed the importance of providing funding or risk losing it. 

He said: “The need to get moving with the development of the stage one bid to Heritage Lottery is now urgent.

“The new owner of the Brewers Quay building has been refitting some areas and it looks really nice. 

“There is a compelling vision for what the museum could look like.”

The public art development will be carried out in two stages, with the first stage involving an “extensive community consultation”, design selection and identifying what permissions are needed.

Design and implementation requirements will be presented to the management committee for consideration in the second stage, along with estimates of future maintenance costs. 

The Member Arts Advisory Panel will oversee the implementation of the public art project and will be consulted on designs and locations. 

Ideas for the project include the building of a sculpture trail for the borough.

Cllr Ray Nowak said: “It’s a shame that we have a fantastic town that draws in hundreds or even thousands of people a year, and they don’t have a place to go and learn the history of the town. 

“Talented artists don’t have a space to display their artwork. 

“We don’t have an art gallery, that’s a sad part of our make-up.

“We shouldn’t have art for art’s sake, but something meaningful, art which is creative but useful at the same time. 

“Let’s integrate into the community, not have bits of art.

“I really support finance for Weymouth Museum. Whatever can push this up the agenda is desperately needed for Weymouth.”

Cllr Kate Wheller said she was in support of the museum but did not agree with it being rebuilt in a private building.