National publicity for ‘mushrooms’ (From Dorset Echo)

National publicity for ‘mushrooms’

10:37am Tuesday 7th February 2012 in Your letters

I REFER to Weymouth’s latest addition to the landscape – namely the group of mushrooms on stilts placed near the roundabout at Littlemoor.

This sculpture has been the subject of much abuse by all and sundry, even making the national press, stressing the point that in times of serious cutbacks by the government on expenditure, we have the temerity to spend £330,000 on a heap of stones.

If my information is correct, the bulk of the funding came from grants from the Lottery fund and the Arts Council with only a small contribution from our rates.

If we hadn’t applied for this funding, would this money have gone elsewhere?

So, we can say on that score alone we are in a win-win situation.

What other pluses (if any) have we got? Well, we have nationwide publicity for free.

Also, every coach driver that brings visitors to Weymouth in future, I’m sure will make this their first point of interest to show their customers.

Then there are the thousands of cars that visit each year, I’m sure they also will make a beeline to view the mushrooms.

In case you’re wondering, yes, I have seen the mushrooms and I thought they looked great. I understand they are flooding the area to make an attractive pond which will further enhance the sculptures.

So, well done to our councils for agreeing to all this – after destroying our beautiful fairy lights along the Promenade and mucking up a perfectly functioning road system.

It’s gratifying that they don’t get everything wrong.

Vic Griffiths Stoke Road Wyke Regis