Council takes small step toward deciding Colston future
Bristol City Council's Cabinet has formally recognised a recommendation that the statue be put on permanent display in a museum
Bristol is a small step closer to finding out what will happen to the statue of slave trader Edward Colston, over the long term.
The Cabinet at Bristol City Council has formally acknowledged several recommendations put forward by the We Are Bristol History Commission, which include that the statue should be put on permanent display in a museum and that a new plaque explaining why it was torn down, should be erected either on or near its now empty plinth.
The recommendations were discussed during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 5 April and followed an extensive survey carried out in Bristol last year, which found 80 percent of Bristolians would like the statue in a museum.
Dr Joanna Burch-Brown, who sat on the History Commission, introduced its report at the meeting.
"I want to make three main points about this report," she said.
"The first is, the purpose of this report is to support you as elected officials to make a really evidence based, democratic decision about what should happen with the future of the Colston statue, what should happen with the plinth, and to understand more about how people feel about these issues across the city."
In total 14,000 people took part in the survey on which the report is based.
People largely gave their opinions after viewing a temporary display featuring the statue at M Shed, in 2021.
Dr Burch-Brown called the sample "representative", including views from people all across the city, different socio-economic groups and ages.
"They really, really want the chance to learn about this history and to reflect on it," she said.
"It should not just sit in the collections (of a museum)," she said.
"It needs to be on display."
Responding, Mayor Marvin Rees thanked the Commission for its work and reiterated his belief that the toppling of the Colston statue was the beginning of a journey for the city and not an end point.
"It's one of those things that some people have not necessarily fully understood," he said.
Mr Rees also stressed a desire for people who have views, to make the effort to give their opinions.
"For all those people who have appeared in the papers and made the headlines, they're not here today," he said.
"Being involved in these kind of debates is not just about getting in the paper and getting on the news, it's about being here when we're having the discussion about what to do next as well."
Having formally recognised the recommendations, Mayor Rees and others can now begin discussions on how to implement them.
The debates to come will include, among other things, whether to install a new plaque at the plinth and whether to word it as the Commission has suggested, which is as follows:
"On 13 November 1895, a statue of Edward Colston (1636 - 1721) was unveiled here celebrating him as a city benefactor.
"In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, the celebration of Colston was increasingly challenged given his prominent role in the enslavement of African people.
"On 7 June 2020, the statue was pulled down during Black Lives Matter protests and rolled into the harbour.
"Following consultation with the city in 2021, the statue entered the collections of Bristol City Council’s museums."
Also up for discussion will be whether to make the plinth a home for temporary art installations, plus whether, and how, to display the statue to the public.
Currently there is no publicised timescale for when the decisions will be made.