Banksy’s £1million anti-Brexit mural in Dover is partly destroyed after council demolished building it was painted on to make way for £25m regeneration project
- This scheme aims to create a cultural, educational and business start-up centre
A £1million Banksy mural criticising Brexit has been partly destroyed after the council demolished the building it was on to make way for a new £25million regeneration project.
The mural appeared on the side of a building in Dover, Kent, in May 2017 – a year after Britain narrowly voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. The departure was symbolised by the image of a workman on a ladder chipping away at one of the stars of the EU flag.
Dover District Council (DDC) has now flattened the building for a regeneration project which includes a cultural, educational and business start-up centre, sparking fears for the future of the art work.
But DDC leader Councillor Kevin Mills says that bits of the work, which was mysteriously whitewashed overnight in 2019, have been saved.
Councillor Mills says the image of the man on a ladder and the yellow stars he is working on have been rescued, but not the wider blue background.
He claims the difficulty was that the image was on the render of the building, which was knocked down by DDS Demolition.
DDS Demolition told MailOnline the building was unsafe and had to come down, but insisted it was carefully taken down rather then a demolition.
Speculation has surrounded the future of the famous painting on the side of a building in Dover, Kent
The site of the building where Banksy’s Brexit mural was painted
A spokeswoman for the company said they couldn’t confirm the state they’d be able to redisplay the artwork in, but that certainly the intention was for it to be displayed elsewhere and that DDS is doing everything they can to ensure the piece is saved for the local community.
Cllr Mills said they are working with DDS Demolition to identify what can and can’t be done with the bits that they’ve taken away but admitted the whole thing can’t be saved’.
‘It was a very old building,’ he said. ‘We were told very early on that in essence what could possibly be saved would be the yellow stars and the stencil of the man on the stepladder, some of which had already been, I understand, stolen or destroyed. But the blue was not able to be saved.
‘So, we are actually dealing with the construction company now, we’ve been in consultation and discussions with them from the start about what has and hasn’t been taken away and I’m waiting for feedback on that.
Read more: Who is Banksy? All the theories about the anonymous graffiti artist
‘Of course they will not even start to try and do anything with it in the short term.’
Cllr Mills says it is still not known who painted over the mural, which was said to be valued at £1million.
He added: ‘We’ve got digital photographs so it’s possible to duplicate something.
‘What we need to see is what can or can’t be saved. This has been painted onto render, which is fairly old so when you take it down does that render stay?
‘Anyone who has done home improvements knows the difficulty about that.
‘The bottom line is we didn’t paint over it. We didn’t try to destroy it, somebody else did that and we don’t know who.
‘What we’ve made sure is the council taxpayer isn’t given a bill to try to maintain something we might not even be able to maintain or even salvage to some extent.’
Cllr Mills was speaking at a public consultation exhibition focusing on the Dover Beacon project, held at East Kent College.
This scheme aims to create a cultural, educational and business start-up centre in Bench Street, where the mural once stood. It replaces Bench Street car park and premises such as the Funky Monkey nightclub.
The four-storey building with the Banksy mural was completely knocked down this month as part of a wider redevelopment of the street by DDC.
Councillor Mills says the image of the man on a ladder and the yellow stars he is working on has been saved but not the wider blue background
The combined regeneration, including Dover Beacon, is costed at £25.4 million.
Liz Gibney, from the new building’s architects Lee Evans Partnership, says the scheme is for the whole of the Dover district.
She said: ‘We are hoping this is going to raise aspirations for people in Dover, bring more creative people here and keep them in the district.’
On Dover District Council’s website, the authority says it is in discussions with DDS Demolition as to how any elements of the conserved Banksy could be put on display locally and that the contractor is meeting all additional costs and risks that they incur in attempting to recover the Banksy.
A Dover District Council spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘DDS Demolition is attempting to see if the Banksy artwork can be conserved in any way. There is no certainty that this will be successful given the fact that the artwork was painted over and the poor state of the render.
‘The building has now been demolished, and contractors have been successful in removing stars and a section of the man and ladder intact.
‘Prior to authorising the demolition, and having taken professional conservation advice, DDC determined that the Banksy could not be viably conserved without considerable costs to local taxpayers, even if it were technically possible.
‘The contractor is meeting all additional costs and risks that they incur in attempting to recover the Banksy.
‘Should their attempts be successful, any elements of the Banksy would be the property of DDS Demolition in line with the terms of the contract which, as is standard practice with demolition projects, gives them the ownership of any salvageable materials from the buildings.
‘Given the detailed conservation process that needs to take place, it is likely to be some time before DDS Demolition will know if their attempts to conserve any elements of the Banksy have been successful.
‘We are in discussions with DDS Demolition as to how any elements of the conserved Banksy could be put on display locally.’
MailOnline is awaiting further comment from DDS Demolition.
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