‘Disgraceful’ - Council leaves ‘wonderful piece of art’ lying among the bins for eight years

Wirral Council has been called disgraceful over its treatment of “a wonderful piece of art” left lying among bins for nearly eight years.

The sculpture, known as “The Diving Man”, is a six metre high piece that was installed outside Europa Pools Leisure Centre in Birkenhead in the early 2000s.

A planning application in 2001 described it as a “stainless steel and shiny with some coloured, enamelled metal forming the diver’s swimming trunks. “The diver is designed to give a visual representation of the nature of the building, effectively a label without words.”

In 2015, it was removed for the creation of a new soft place centre and sensory playroom to be built for disabled children.

After criticism when it was found left lying on the floor, a council spokesperson said at the time it would be reinstalled once a new location was found though did not confirm when or where this would happen.

Earlier this year, Wirral Council said it will remain where it was for the time being until funding is found and the statue was in a secure location. The positioning of the statue by the local authority has subsequently come in for criticism.

Martin Nation, who lives in Birkenhead, said: “It’s still dumped in the same place after nearly eight years even though they said it would go back up once the extension below it had been built. It’s a shameful way the council treats a wonderful piece of art.

“There is ample space for it to go back up even if not in its original place and it would cost next to nothing, a cherry picker and a few bolts in the wall.

A Wirral Council spokesperson said: “The sculpture was taken down to allow a specialist soft play extension to the front of the pool area to be built. It is too big to go back safely on the new front wall but is currently securely stored and, when funding allows, options for its future will be considered.”