Tubman mural will be allowed to stay

A pub will be allowed to keep its eye-catching graffiti mural after councillors had a change of heart.

The Observer reported last week how Paul Osmond, landlord of The Tubman in Cambridge Road had been told the design fell foul of the authority's advertising rules. But after hundreds of people backed the pub, the council has said it will work with Mr Osmond to keep the painting there.

Cllr Peter Chowney, lead member for regeneration and planning, said: "If everyone seems to like it we should be finding a way of allowing it. I think the main complaint came from an 85-year-old resident who lives near the pub and said she didn't want to wake up every morning and see a skull, which seems fair.

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"But this is a matter of personal taste and the council should not be legislating on people's taste - that is for local people to decide."

Cllr Chowney admitted the design, painted by artists from Inspire in Robertson Street, did not particularly appeal to him but said that the council wanted to encourage the town's creative community. He said the Prime Minister's gift of local artist Ben Eine's painting to President Barack Obama showed how well thought of street art had become.

"We do not want the whole town covered with graffiti that looks a mess so there has to be some regulation but there is a place for art. A little while ago people were saying we should remove Eine's letters from the shop fronts, and now his work his hanging in the White House.

"We want to be more open-minded about it and I want to see how much flexibility we have in letting artists work on some of the empty buildings in Hastings. I want to work with the community to make these decisions."

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More than 450 people have joined a Facebook group to save the mural while Mr Osmond said another 600 have signed the pub's petition.

"It is brilliant news and I think the public reaction has swayed the council's decision. It seemed to spark something in people," said Mr Osmond.

"I have not yet met with the council so I do not know exactly what it is proposing but it is definitely a step in the right direction.

"The skull is an integral part of the design and we would be reluctant to remove that but I know the neighbour who first complained has softened to it a bit. But I like the idea that we change it in six or 12 months, and commission something else."

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