Council to sell controversial Banksy dinghy mural

Banksy's artwork depicted two children clinging to an inflatable dinghy

A Banksy mural removed after being painted close to the spot where a three-year-old died is to be sold by a council.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to sell the artwork created at Gorleston beach, in Norfolk, depicting two children clinging to an inflatable dinghy while an adult pumping it up is distracted by their drink.

It was painted over before being removed due to sensitivity concerns over the death of three-year-old Ava-May Littleboy, of Lower Somersham in Suffolk, on an inflatable nearby.

"The fact a young girl lost her life made it a very sensitive subject for the area," said the council's deputy leader Graham Plant, during the cabinet meeting.

The slice of artwork has been stored in Lincolnshire after it was cut out of the sea wall in January 2022

The mural on the side of Gorleston's model yacht pond was one of 10 painted by the elusive street artist across Norfolk and Suffolk during his "Great British Staycation".

They appeared in spots including Great Yarmouth, Cromer, Lowestoft and Oulton Broad over the space of a week in 2021.

However, the mural proved controversial at the time and officials quickly decided to paint over it as Plant said it was "too similar to what happened" with the death of Ava-May.

She died in July 2018 when an inflatable trampoline at Gorleston beach burst.

In an interview after the decision on Tuesday, Conservative councillor Plant said: "It hasn't been verified by Banksy because of the sensitivity."

The artist tends not to offer verification for his works on the street, but a photo of the mural did appear on his website before the local sensitivities were highlighted.

"It's not like we could make lots and lots of money from it, but what we really want to do is make sure we have some money coming into Gorleston so any money coming in will be ringfenced for Gorleston," Plant added.

He said he hoped there would be "great interest across the world" in the mural, but said it was impossible to estimate any sale price.

"We don't know how much it's going to make, so we'll wait for the market to tell us how much it's worth," he said.

After it appeared, the borough council said at the time: "We thank Banksy for all the wonderful artwork and fully appreciate these circumstances would not have been known by the artist."

During the vote on the mural's future, the local authority's Conservative councillor for Gorleston ward, Paul Wells, said it was a "complete no-brainer" to sell it.

The mural was carefully removed from the boating lake wall at Gorleston by restoration experts

The entire wall section was removed in January 2022 and the artwork restored by specialists in a process costing £14,105.

It then cost a further £7,623 to repair the wall, with the mural moved to a storage facility in Lincolnshire.

The costs of storing and insuring the work over four years has totalled £7,319.

Mr Plant said these fees would be deducted from any sale money.

The council considered displaying the artwork in the town's Time and Tide museum, but decided it would be inappropriate due to Ava-May's death.

It will now have the mural valued by an auction house experienced in dealing with Banksy's street works, before it goes on to be sold via an auction or private sale.

At the same meeting, the council also approved setting up a taskforce to further crack down on anti-social behaviour in the town.

The £1.15m of funding will tackle hotspots of anti-social behaviour, street drinking and fly-tipping.

Plant said during the vote it was "something we have been trying to get in place for many years".