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having lived in Durham City for more than 40 years its a shame that they have to be moved.We recently retired to Greece but Durham is still home

this statue is part of the historic tradition of Durham. what other than the market is the square used for?

Lord Londonderry is part of the history of Durham. Generations of Durham schoolchildren have learned the legend of the blind man finding the horse had no tongue when the sculptor boasted his statue was perfect and the artist's subsequent suicide from one of the city's bridges. Generations of teenagers have arranged to meet their 'dates' sitting on the steps around it. On Big Meeting Day, it is a spot to sit and watch the bands go by. If more space is needed for market stalls on some occasions, get rid of the roundabouts! By all means move Neptune but the place for Lord Londonderry is just where he is.

In answer to your question Brian, it seems that this is exactly what the public consultation is all about. The statues staying or going are the least of my concerns to be honest. I feel that the MarketPlace needs to have its potential unlocked - it's a bit scruffy at the moment with all the benches and uneven flagstones, it'll be interesting to hear what comes of it. OK, it's never going to be like Paris or Rome but they're worth looking at for inspiration.

Get rid of the nasty dirty cobble stones, get rid of the tacky hot dog and doughnut vans and decrepid merry-go-rounds, force Woolworths to revamp their nasty shop frontage or move out, use the sterile, featureless Millennium Square for the Market stalls, but keep the statues they are part of our heritage and we love them.

the last thing durham needs is for more heritage to be stripped away.the market place needs tidying up but never converting into a barren wasteland as the millenium square. keep the statues, re vamp the stale shop frontages(especially wollies, boots and other expanses of featureless glass) and give us a market place that we can be proud of.

[quote][bold]Durham Bob[/bold] wrote: Get rid of the nasty dirty cobble stones, get rid of the tacky hot dog and doughnut vans and decrepid merry-go-rounds, force Woolworths to revamp their nasty shop frontage or move out, use the sterile, featureless Millennium Square for the Market stalls, but keep the statues they are part of our heritage and we love them.[/quote] This is an excellent message. What more is there to be said. These statues are part of our heritage as the cathedral, should that be moved to make way for modernisation and a once a year market.

[quote]These statues are part of our heritage as the cathedral[/quote] The statues are in no way as much part of our heritage as Durham Cathedral. Lord Londonderry is not even 150 years old - probably one of the newest things in the square! In any case, age alone is not enough to make something worthy of preservation. Durham Cathedral is astonishingly beautiful and serves and important purpose; the statues are neither of these therefore a move to improve the square seems a very sensible idea.

I think that the status of Lord Londonderry and Neptune should be removed from the Market Square and replaced somewhere else in the city, perhaps Warton Park, so that there would be more space in the market square. I also agree with others who have said the shop front of Woolworths should be revamped.

Another outrageous plan by the council, well at least it will fit in with the other disastrous planning approvals. Why don't they just concrete the whole of the market place, and knock down the cathedral to build more executive homes ? I'm all set to move away from the area now, after living here all my life, bye bye old friend

Absolutely nowhere does it say that anybody plans to get rid of the statues, it was just used as an example of what people in Durham might decide via the consultation. Dear me, do people read anything but headlines these days? It would be a shame if you moved away Billy just because you haven't read the article properly.

Some consultation- it doesn't say where it is to be held on Friday and Saturday, or is that part of the plan, to say no-one turned up so no-one is intersted, so let's move the statues anyway? I would like to know how much these consultanats are costing us as taxpayers? This 2020 Vision seems to be a blueprint to destroy Durham from all we've heard about it. Isn't it the document that says we should build on the Golf Course, and probably supports buildiong on the Racecourse. I thought we elected councillors to run this city not consultants!

Yes I agree the market place needs a tidy up aswell as other areas in Durham, and Neptune may well benefit from relocation, I have always thought he was placed there as an after thought. However I would like to see Lord Londonderry stay, after all what other area do we have that has a setting like the market place to display such a proud and grand statue as Lord Londonderry? Durham is an historical city loved for its 'oldnesss' let us not lose that. Don't let us make the mistake that improvement involves modern, clean lines with minimalist decoration. Use the cobbled parking area for traditional/speciali st/quality market stalls. And please stop building residential/new builds in the city, we need to preserve our green areas not bury them under concrete. Will there be a public vote on this matter?

Neptune wasn't placed there as an afterthought - he was placed back where he came from originally before being moved to Wharton Park and then lost! Any changes made to the market place should be done around the statues and SYMPATHETICALLY because at the end of the day, Durham is a HISTORIC city and should be treated as such When you look at books of old photos of the city, you see how much heritage has been lost over the years..... lets not lose any more!

The statues are ugly and the steps are used by gangs of teenagers making even less room . The market place is scruffy and the market even more so. If you want to see a fine market and a bright and bustling place go to Northallerton where shop fronts are attractive and stalls are interesting and varied without the all pervading smell of fried onions.

The issue is not about the horse or the neptune statue, I'm sure its not going to upset many people to keep these inoffensive statues perhaps in a revamped square. The real noisy, toxic and inexusable offenders are the petrol and diesel vehicle driving public, parking in the marketplace or crawling through saddler street impacting scores/hundreds of people 'get out the way', often for the benefit of single-occupancy cars. Not in Europe would such a situation exist - saddler street, the market square would have been pedestrianised a long long time ago and is overdue now. Outside of delivery hour, perhaps an electric bus/tram to the cathedral and for "special days/events" at the cathedral, lets ban the traffic and introduce peacefulness and tranquility to our beloved city centre. Oh, to those who will bemoan 'how could I possibly manage without my car' then get real... all of these streets of Durham preceed the combustion engine by about 1000 years. So much more space would be created for real benefit of the people, a better look and one which is entirely consistent with Durham's architecture and past.

Couldn't agree more - lets liberate that road space and add it to a revitalised market square. This is an ancient medieval city and heritage site completely ruined by the daily covenience of 21st century vehicles trundling through 24/7.

Having lived in Durham all my life, I must say that I have a great affection for the statues of Neptune (though when I was a boy he stood up in Wharton Park) and Lord Londonderry (most little boys liked soldiers on horses) so I wouldn't want to lose them forever, but I cannot come up with a good argument for keeping them in the Market Place. The statue of Neptune was originally erected as the symbol of an ambitious plan to make the river navigable to ships and make Durham a port. My suggestion would be to erect him at the entrance to the new swimming pool which has been named the Freeman's Quay Leisure Centre, not that there ever was a quay there, but it would retain the aquatic connection of the original dream. The statue of Lord Londonderry is a little more difficult to justify. He does have a connection with Durham's coal mining heritage, but maybe not for the best of reasons as he was quite a ruthless employer. His main fame is for the building of Seaham Harbour for exporting his coal, so possibly Seaham would be a more fitting location. Apparently when Lady Londonderry first wanted to erect a statue to her late husband, the City Council thought it too large for the market place and tried to persuade the University to allow it to be sited on Palace Green. But she got her way - just goes to show what power and money can do. Nothing has changed much really, only now it's not wealthy landed families having their way with our city, but rich property development companies.

I think it would be nice if Neptune were re-erected on the structure it used to sit on before it was moved to Wharton Park (you can see it in old photographs). It was much more interesting and attractive than the current pedestal. I think that moving the statues should be the last priority for cleaning up the Market Square should be to move the statues - how about removing some of the old phone booths, fixing the paving stones, making the car park smaller, beautifying surrounding buildings, and kicking out chavs?

How can you say that the statues need to be moved becasue the market place is looking cluttered, if you want to get rid of some of durham's eyesores, why not knock down most of north road. People who want to have the statues moved back to where they were,there are just 2 problems, 1)if you moved the neptune statue into wharton park it'd be nothing more than something for drunk teenegers to be sick against, and 2)if people want the statues moved back to where they used to be, it makes very little difference, because anyone who can remember where they used to be are going to be long out lived by thoses who have always known them in the market place. And by the way, just for those of you who don't like the millenium square, I happen to think that it's chuffing marvelous

I'm all for changing little bits of the layout of the square (the benches have never made sense!) but taking away the statues?? I'm worried the market Place is going to end up as souless as Millenium Square and the Prince Bishops. Imagine the space in front of BHS and superdrug enlarged and moved to the Market Place...ugh.

Moving the Lord Londonderry statue would to make space would make the market place just that, an empty space that people walked through to get from one shop to another. Durham doesn't need another lifeless space, it has the millenium square for that. The council would be better focused on restoring what durham has rather than rearranging it's much loved heritage.

I and my parents have lived here all our lives and I have watched with dismay the systematic destruction of the city over the last years with soleless flats etc and that dreadful Millenium Place with the structure like a pidgeon cree on the top. Leave the market place alone, by all means tidy it up and improve shop fronts and, as a point of interest, Neptune was in the market place long before it was in Wharton Park.

We think moving the statues is totally stupid! When we were younger we loved running round Lord Londonerry on the steps. Also think about how much carbon would be produced if you moved the statues. Also it would be a lot of hassle, surely. The statues look best in the Market Place and would clutter up anywhere else in the city. By the way, we are only 8 and 11 years old, and the statues are a huge part of our lives!

Who needs some interesting statues when the whole amrket place could be bulldozed to make way for a loveshack extension? or maybe some some more apartments that no one will buy? or perhaps another australian theme bar? i must say all this concern about heritage is really standing in the way of progress. Don't even get me started on the ammount of retail space the cathedral is taking up!

I love living in durham. The heritage, the crazy statues. The lack of interesting shops. I think it would be a real shame to add more badly thought out modern touches to durham city. We already have that millenium square are the wonderful Prince Bishops car park that looks like a prison. New and old can go together but the council don't seem to know what they are doing just building appartments all over the place and ruining what heritage we do have around us. I really hope that Lord Londonderry stays in that marketplace at least and the rest of the place is improved but without losing the character of the area. But judging by other improvements it'll probably be a huge waste of tax-payers money with little or no improvement to the area. Just look at what they did with the bus station all that time and money spent doing it up and basically it's been painted with some clever sliding doors added. Wow what an [bold]immense[/bold] difference.

No way, bad idea. i love that house and it is a excellant meeting place.

i dont think the horse should b moved as it is the main focal point of the market place and a main meeting point for a lot of the loacal people... if they take away the statues the market place will have lost one of its best assets along with the monkeys on the lampost

I say leave the statues and the cobbles where they are, how about sorting out the eyesore and waste of space that is North Road. The market place is a lovely place to sit in the summer. Better to stop all cars other than delivery times in the market place, those streets were never built for cars. Why are people so intent on making Durham a modern city, granted some work is needed but if we take it too far it will end up being souless. As a city we cant afford to loose the tourist trade, but that is the way it is heading. Having lived in Portsmouth for a while, Durham is a wonderful beautiful city that people do not appreciate!!!!!![quote]quote[/quote]

When will the 2020 people stop interfering where they are not needed and concentrate on areas where real change is required. North Road is dirty, smelly and anachronistic in our beautiful city. That's an area that would really benefit from the "renewal of business life". I agree with many Talking Point correspondents that the Market Place could do with tidying up and agree that it is "cluttered with ... randomly located seats and planters" whose fault is that? The Council. That'll be the same Council who now think it's a good idea to remove everything. If the statues go there will be no turning back because they will have been abandoned, no doubt out of the way to await the vandals. 2020 have plans for the site of Milburngate House, why not create an "arena" type area for events as part of that.The consultation is taking place at St Nicks in the Market Place, I urge you to make your feelings known.

This is from the ONE NorthEast website from May 2007 and should be of interest to you: ONE NorthEast has approved funding of £3,400,000 to provide the key to unlock the redevelopment of a run down area of Durham City. The money will allow Durham County Council to acquire strategically important property on North Road as part of longer-term comprehensive regeneration of the area in support of the Durham City Vision project, which it is hoped will provide a step change in the economic prosperity of the city. Following extensive consultation with those who live, work, study and shop in Durham in 2005, North Road was identified as an area for potential change, presently suffering from low quality buildings and offering a poor retail experience.

Thanks Tom. I already knew North Road had been earmarked for funding and development. I was trying to make the point that perhaps the North Road project should be brought forward and the Market Place left to a much later date. In the more than two years since the consultation exercise was carried out and funds identified nothing has happened and North Road has continued its rapid deterioration.

So, the Council is not planning to move the Market Place statues. Why not? Why not replace the statue of a man whose family imported workers to live in hovels with outside lavatories (often shared) while the family lived 'high on the hog' with the statue of monks bearing the body of St Cuthbert then we'd really have an item of important historical value. Yes, the monks lived relatively comfortable lives but the people of Durham were left with an important religious and architecturally-reco gnised building which has inspired thousands of people. Incidentally, who needs a wok to put Durham on the map when we've got what was described as Britain's best-loved building, visible from all inroads into the City, to do that?

Durham is an historic city, and there is no need to change the best parts of the city at all ie the market place, the area surrounding vennels etc. Getting rid of the cobbles? Why? Yes they're a bit troublesome to maintain, but it's part of the character of the city. The city is old and small, in fact it probably shouldn't be called a city at all, just a slightly large town. It has character and life and history all rolled together, and in recent years we've seen is this being wrecked by so called "developments". Durham will never be a Newcastle or Leeds - basically it will never be a big city at all in terms of shopping and entertainment. For crying out loud, the cinema was turned into a massive pub, of which there were many in Durham anyway, and when the Gala had it's most recent developments what was put there? More pubs...great, just what the city needs...pubs and clubs...when there's no decent cinema! There are some big chain stores in Durham yes, but what we don't need is more shopping areas, it's simply not a big enough city for that. People go to Newcastle to shop if they want great choice and variety, Durham has most shops you would need on a daily basis anyway so there is simply no need for bigger and better shopping areas. Except the people planning these changes, the Council, are in it to make money, so obviously shops will mean more people and then more money spent, therefore boosting the economy and providing more jobs, better jobs etc etc. This is exactly what Durham DOES NOT need. Next thing you know, all the history and quaintness of the place will be torn up and replaced with big new modern buildings that are 10 storeys high and block out views of the Cathedral. Durham obviously has to undergo some massive changes and developments, mostly on North Road, and the 20/20 vision does go someway to addressing these...before it needlessly suggests that there are many other changes needed to make the average vistor spend more than 3 hours in the city and £1.78 on a cup of tea at the Cathedral. Durham has plenty to offer visitors anyway, except that they're not advertised well enough! Plenty of decent golf courses and sports facilities, walks, cycle routes, enough in the way of shops and shopping areas, cafes and restaurants, a theatre and (limited) Cinema. The steps that need to be taken should address what is already in Durham, the heritage and history mainly, and capitalise on this. You can't possibly think of making the city a more attractive proposition to tourists but then alienate the people that LIVE IN THE CITY can you?! We are the ones who have to live, work and sleep in the city, not the tourists. Any changes made should benefit the residents primarily, not the retail industry and tourist industries. Address what the people want, not what the council want or "think is best" because let's face it, government's never know what is best for the people. They come up with schemes, like the Northern Assembly, that they want and think the people will want, only to be proven hopelessly wrong and out of their depth with endless backtracking once the people show them what they really want for their region.

[quote][bold]Carol[/bold] wrote: The statues are ugly and the steps are used by gangs of teenagers making even less room . The market place is scruffy and the market even more so. If you want to see a fine market and a bright and bustling place go to Northallerton where shop fronts are attractive and stalls are interesting and varied without the all pervading smell of fried onions. [/quote] If you like Northallerton so much, then please by all means go there for your shopping. But people need to stop trying to make Durham into a clone of another town/city! Durham is Durham, it is unique, and does not need changing into a mirror image of another "nice" town. Keep it as Durham.

Alex says "people need to stop trying to make Durham into a clone of another town/city! Durham is Durham, it is unique, and does not need changing..." Too right its unique, its the only cathedral city in the country that thinks its acceptable to have a scruffy town centre alongside buildings of such beauty. Improvements need to be made and life needs to be injected into dead streets like Old Elvet where all the beautiful old buildings seem to belong to university administration. How dull and lifeless this pretty street is. Also why not pedestrianise Claypath does traffic really need to be there when we have Leazes Road? A beautiful city centre is the key to getting people to come and explore and invest in the rest of our beautiful county. Go and look at the town centre of Barnard Castle and you see a town of great character and beauty alongside great buildings. Look at the improvements in Bishop Auckland market square alongside the bishop's palace and see what can be done. Bishop Auckland's historic market place puts Durham's to shame. If you don't believe me go and see. In an earlier post Alex says "The statues are in no way as much part of our heritage as Durham Cathedral." I agree and nor is the University. It come as a surprise to learn, for example, that Neptune stood in the market place 100 years before Durham University was founded. Neptune and his equestian companion may not be to everyone's liking and perhaps they should be moved away from the cluttered market place but it is Durham University, a relatively recent newcomer that has really stifled the life and character of Durham's city centre. yes Alex, Durham will never be as big as Leeds or Newcastle or York or Oxford for that matter, but that doesn't excuse an ugly town centre.

What a good idea to remove the statues. The horse in particular dominates. From Saddler St. it obscures the attractive Town Hall building and hides the indoor market which is such an asset to Durham. The statue is out of all proporion to the market place, which would look much better with a smaller focal point. There must be a more fitting place for Lord Londonderry and his horse.

A lot of debate here, but if we took a step back and thought about what Durham vision is really saying, we would realise that what they really mean is , " how can we get rid of any obstructions in the Market Place , so we can maximise the space for commercial reasons?"

them statues stays where they are they are the main attractions for holiday makers and day trips they are our history and they stay

I'm with Bob on the overwhelming presence and disproportionate influence of the university in Durham City. It dominates our most historic streets and the insiduous spread of student accommodation is a blight in many city centre streets that is spreading further and further out. Streets that were once attractive and well looked after are now awash with poorly maintained houses and overgrown gardens. My heart sinks when a For Sale sign goes up in Gilesgate or Langley Moor only to be replaced a matter of weeks later with To Let. This is an issue I wish 2020 Vision and the Council would address. I recognise the important economic role the University has played in Durham during leaner times, but do we have to kowtow ad infinitum?

BEING A MAJOR PART OF DURHAMS HERITAGE THE STATUE OF LORD VANE TEMPEST STUART SHOULD MOST EMPHATICALY NOT BE RESITED

The statues should definitely stay in the market place.Why should our history once more take a back seat to commercialism? We have enough room for the kind of events Durham needs.My husband and I and all of our families are from the region and are proud of the market square the way it is.

I have loved that statue from being a young child going into Durham with my mother and being told the story that surrouds this iconic Statue. When I heard the news that the Statue was going to be removed from the market place I was absolutely disgusted. How should anyone be allowed to move a Historic Statue that has been a part of Durham for 100's of years!!

Whatever next? get rid of the castle or catherdral... I am sure the idea of moving the landmark came from someone who has no history attached the the "horse in the marketplace" All Durham folk have some tale to tell about it and a lot of fond memories of it. So leave things abe. Just remember Durham is an historic city which pulls in a flock of tourists. I am all for progress and improvement but think it through please. If these people need change then let them focus on getting rid of the idea of a big bowl which is proposed as a landmark.

This statue was part of my childhood - I spent many an hour gazing in awe at this amazing statue. I still to this day take time out to admire it and I'm now in my 40's. It would be a tragedy to move this historical work of art from the Market Place. I hope also that the old style red telephone boxes are left too, the old lamp-posts (complete with monkeys) and Neptune too. There's certainly enough space for the market WITHOUT having to move these gems. If space for stalls is the main consideration, then why not use the bridges or the Cathedral Green? Please keep Lord Londonderry where he is!!!

I don't think its acceptable to be scruffy, if you read it properly you would see i admit it needs a tonne of changes, just not MODERNISATION. Modern buildings are killing the city, look at the Gala complex, the new flats down by the riverside, the new houses up near the viaduct - all examples of how downhill Durham is going. Also pointing out, the very first post by an Alex is a different one to me, i think the statues should stay, mass clean up should be carried out throughout Durham, but the heritage and the quaintness retained!

[italic][bold]Having lived in Durham for most of my life which is 52 years. I am saddened that the most common meeting place for people who live here and who visit here is being removed. For years I have met my family and friends under the horse in the market plave and should imagine others have done the same. Please in the name of our heritage DO NOT IT TAKE AWAY. I sometimes think if the castle and cathedral were movable you would consider moving them too.[/bold][/italic]

I am apalled and outraged at the proposal to remove the statues from Durham Market Place. I lived and worked in Durham for 47 years and to remove these beautiful statues would be another thing to remove all our British heritage. It is apalling! Let the people decide!

For the romantics among us, why not send the Londonderry statue to the seafront at Seaham from where coal was shipped? It would then be on an infinitely-more-suit able historical site and everyone who claims allegiance to it can still visit it whenever he/she wishes. Durham's Market Place should be the site for the wonderful statue of the monks bearing the body of St Cuthbert since a lot of Durham people don't visit Millennium Place. As I believe the Market Place to be the site of an old graveyard, wouldn't the Cuthbert statue be more appropriate there - for Durham people? On another tack, are those people complaining about 'scruffy' Durham aware that not only the Market Place but other strategic streets are cleaned at the end of every working day and at the beginning of the next? I've seen this when travelling to and from work in the City; so who's creating the mess in the meantime? As far as shopfronts and buildings are concerned, even when planners oppose items they are often over-ruled by councillors and by developers going to appeal so we need to have local zones which specify what can and can't be done - if any are already in existence it's not obvious to me, but I'm sure I'll be apprised of this by the commentators.

The statue has been a landmark in Durham for generations. This is yet another example of the Council trying to ride roughshode over the Council tax payers. Leave our Statue alone!!!

If people bothered to read the article properly rather than relying on local gossip they'd realise the vision is in fact just to resite the statues to a better space in the square. There's really no need for all this reactionary hysteria.

Tidy up the market place and some of the shop fronts in the surrounding area , But keep the statues, They are part of the history of Durham and part of what the tourists come to see and photograph. I lived in the south of the country for many years and saw many area's updated, but the important parts were kept.

THERE ARE NO PLANS TO MOVE THE STATUES - SIMPLE. There is an ongoing public consultation all about marketplace with one question about the statues and what people think of them. You're all getting in a flap about nothing. All of the mights, coulds and possiblies that are the result of any consultation seem to have been turned into definites by the people who only read headlines without bothering to find things out for themselves. An opportunity for reasoned debate is being missed by this unnecessary furore over the statues.

The statue of Lord Londonderry deserves to stay where it has always been in the market place where it has been for the last 150 years.The market place could be tidyied up and removal of the tacky carousel, burger vans,stalls etc should be removed, but the staue must stay regardless what the planners say or lord londonderry will turn in his grave as he is a intergral part of durham just like the catherdral and castle

Durham council shouls think twice about distroying any more of Durhams heritage, its what makes the city.[quote][quote]quote[/quote] [/quote]

Leave the statues where they are - both of them belong to the City and to the Market Place - lots of people feel very strongly about this .....

KEEP THE STATUES!!! The market place could be fantastic. Tourists travel from all over the world to see our beautiful historic city, it's embarassing that often the first thing they see is a tacky merry-go-round and a smelly burger van.

The statues, particularly the horse are part of the established street scene and the suggestion that they should be moved leads me to think that we have the wrong consultants who are showing no sympathy to historic Durham

The market place is used as a city open space should be used, by people. As soon as the weather is half decent there are people using the benches & sitting on the steps round the horse. Tourist use the place, but far more importantly, it is a very local place, full of shoppers, school children and sixth formers. The Gala space will never have the atmoshere, because there will never be the same mix of people in it The Market needs tidying, not changing. And further actions to discourage (NOT ban)traffic should be put in place

Please can you tell me where to find the petition to stop the Statue from being moved?

Hi Pamela, No petition has yet been started up (that we are aware of). However, there is a Facebook group - read the story by clicking http://www.durhamtim es.co.uk/news/topsto ries/display.var.200 9587.0.1_500_sign_up _in_protest_at_statu e_move.php Alternatively, the Durham City Vision website, complete with contact information, is http://www.durhamvis ion.org.uk/ Hope that helps, Stephen Hunt Durham Times

Another example of the local authority having nother better to do with our money.

I am not bothered what happens to Neptune, but the magnificent equestrian statue should stay where it is. As far as I'm aware - I may be wrong - it was put in place soon after the completion of the present Town Hall and St. Nicholas's Church buildings, and its erectors surely took care to locate it in the best position to complement the buildings and also to be seen itself to best advantage. Looking at the other fine and confident mid-c19 developments here, I see the horse as an integral part of them, and do not think its placers lacked judgment. This corner of down-town Durham is about the nearest thing we've got to the coherent city centre assemblages from historic periods that we admire or envy in towns abroad. Meanwhile, its presence speaks of skills that have practically vanished. They should not be forgotten or brushed out of sight. But to me the thing that obviously needs some attention is the "floorscape" put down in the 70s. The fissured, cracked and crumbling bits are a hazard to the elderly, and the bodging with tar in some places doesn't look that good. To sort out all the problems of the surface between the end of North Road and the Market Place will need a deal of brains and know-how, as well as money, but I think it should be taken in hand.

More madness from those supposedly responsible for looking after the treasure that was Durham I see. Mind you, if they do shift the statues it would give folk more scope for squeezing in student accomodation. The market place would be very central for young students wanting to make the most of Durham's 'nightlife'. And if space is of a premium, have the powers that be thought of the big grassy open space in front of the catheral that appears not to be being used to its full potential! I appeal for common sense and a sense of history - stop ruining my home town!!!

Only Durham City's Liberal Democrats would help come up with the idea of statues on the move! Remember, this was the Council that cost taxpayers thousands trying to paint taxis white!! With the involvement of Durham City Council, the so called 2020 vision is now seriously out of focus. Having previously branded Durham "boring" and now this barmy idea, it's a PR exercise which is doing serious damage to Durham's reputation.

http://petitions.pm. gov.uk/market-statue / You can sign a Downing Street e petition against the resiting/removal of the statues at the above address

THERE ARE NO PLANS TO MOVE THE STATUES!!!!!! Your petition is based on a headline in the local paper and will be laughed at i'm afraid. Sorry.

I have lived in Aust' for the past 36 years but still have lots of memories of the city.I dont come back to Durham very often but I would hate to come back and find the Lord on horseback missing from the market place.(anyone remember when we used to catch the bus from there and the toilets that lie somewhere under the cobbles?)seems like a lifetime ago!

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