Temporary artwork is finally given planning permission
It is being switched off in less than two weeks
The temporary artwork of a giant illuminated message on Mount Batten breakwater in Plymouth Sound has been given planning permission just over a fortnight before it is due to be switched off.
Questions were raised over why the planning application was submitted after the 63metre long, 6metre high, scaffolding with more than 3,000 lights had been built.
The LED lights make up the words ‘No New Worlds’ in capital letters which shine out in different phrases, designed to stimulate discussion and challenge the idea that North America was a ‘new world’.
Project Speedwell is part of the Mayflower 400 cultural programme, to mark 2020 as the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower from Plymouth with settlers who founded one of the first North American colonies.
The artists who produced the installation said they had been working with the council’s planning team during 2019 and 2020 to ensure that everyone necessary has been consulted about the “complex and unprecedented project”, which had been generally well received and brought international attention to the city.
The retrospective nature of the application for the artwork on the council-owned breakwater was questioned by Plympton St Mary councillor Patrick Nicholson at a meeting of the city council’s planning committee.
He said: “I think it doesn’t look good on the local authority where potentially things happen on our land where really planning should be approved before development takes place.”
The Conservative councillor added: “We often as councillors have a go at the private sector for doing things without permission. I think we need to set high standards ourselves.”
He said if an application was for council land, the authority should try to make a decision before development took place.
Cllr Nicholson said it was not a criticism of the planning department, but probably of “others in the wider authority for allowing activity before permission is granted.”
The council’s head of development management Peter Ford told the committee that the application came “just a few days” before the artwork was installed, so it was not possible to make a decision before the development commenced.
The temporary artwork was funded by Arts Council England and Plymouth Culture, which partly funded by the city council.
A pre-planning application was submitted in the summer of 2019, with an outline of the project.
Work on the scaffolding began in August this year and the actual planning application for the structure and fencing from Martin Hampton of Still/Moving Projects CIC was received by the city council on September 2, two days before the public launch.
The planning application documents were not published on the city council’s website until September 15 and the approval decision was made by planning officers on November 10.
The artwork is due to be switched off on November 26, the date of Thanksgiving Day, a public holiday in the United States celebrating the autumn harvest and the foundation of the country.
The consent includes a condition that the breakwater is “restored to its former condition” by December 14.
Mayflower 400 in Plymouth issued a statement after a news report about the unresolved planning process.
It said: “Mayflower 400 has been supporting the artists, Still/Moving, behind the ‘Speedwell’ project, also known as ‘No New Worlds’.
“The planning application for the installation has been submitted in accordance with government regulations, and the project will respect and follow the outcome of that planning application.
“The ‘No New Worlds’ installation has raised the Plymouth profile around the world with nearly £10million worth of positive media coverage for our stunning waterfront and cultural creativity.”
Five comments on the planning application were submitted from members of the public.
Gareth Evans said: “It is not acceptable that this planning application has been made retrospectively. Work should not have commenced on the structure without receiving planning permission. This attitude rides roughshod over the correct process that is in place.”
Objector Rachel Blanchard wrote: “The sound is a natural beauty spot. There is no need to put man made structures all over it!”
David Andrews said in his objection that the installation was “extremely ugly and mars the natural beauty of Plymouth Sound.”
The artwork is named after the Mayflower’s companion ship the Speedwell, which abandoned the journey across the Atlantic Ocean in 1620 due to leaks.
A statement with the application said the aim was to attract people to the waterfront, stimulate discussion about the Mayflower events, and raise the city’s profile.
Martin Hampton, of Devon-based Still/Moving, said: “The planning team have been immensely helpful throughout 2019-20.
“We the artists have worked with them to ensure that a huge range of parties have been consulted with on the development of this complex and unprecedented project.
“All aspects from ecology to shipping navigation and fishing to extreme weather have been considered in the installation design.”
Mr Hampton added: “The installation has been generally well received so far by the people of Plymouth with over 450 people writing tags and adding them to the structure with the Mayflower Maker volunteers registering over 2,000 meaningful interactions over this first month.
“The project has brought national/international attention to Plymouth. It’s been covered in local, national and international press, generally in the context of articles exploring the importance of approaching the 400 year commemoration in a balanced way.
“The work will be switched off on 26th November which coincides with Thanksgiving, also known as The Day of Mourning amongst indigenous North Americans.”
Project Speedwell co-director Laura Hopes told Plymouth Live: “Speedwell is exploring the idea of ‘no new worlds’.
“For the settlers on the Mayflower who felt they were sailing to a new world, it was a world that had been inhabited for many thousands of years by indigenous peoples who were greatly impacted by the arrival of the Mayflower and subsequent ships that followed.
“We wanted to challenge that idea and to uncover previously overlooked stories of the Mayflower sailing but also to remind people that we only have this world and we need to look after it.”
A statement on the Mayflower 400 website said: “Speedwell is a large-scale art installation that has transformed the Mount Batten Breakwater in Plymouth into a public forum for discussion and debate about the impact and legacy of the Mayflower’s journey, colonialism and the ecological state of our planet during the Mayflower 400 commemorations.
“Created by local artist collective Still/Moving, ‘Speedwell’ was funded by Arts Council England and Plymouth Culture as part of Mayflower 400.
“Measuring 63m long and 6m high, ‘Speedwell’ will use illuminated signage comprising 3,723 LED lights to invite viewers to ask complex questions about themselves, the damaged planet and the legacy of the pivotal journeys made by the Mayflower and its companion ship the Speedwell.
“It offers multiple readings; constantly shifting between words that are lit up and questioning the historic conceit that there ever was a ‘New World’. The artwork will remain illuminated through September, October and November 2020.”