Vandals ruin pony art trail (From Dudley News)

Vandals ruin pony art trail

3:30pm Wednesday 28th July 2010

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MINDLESS vandals have damaged a number of fibreglass ponies, which form a huge children's art exhibition in Brierley Hill, just days after being launched.

Officially opened on Saturday, the Brierley Hill Pony Trail is a fun sculpture trail which takes people on a self-guided walk around the town, passing 30 colourful and unique ponies, which have been sponsored and lovingly designed and decorated by borough school children.

But organisers have spoken of their sadness after finding some of ponies vandalised hours after the trail was launched.

Two ponies have had their fibre glass tails broken off, while another has had paint scraped off.

Others have had adornings pulled off, while vandals have even tried to rip a fourth one from its concrete base.

Claire Starmer-Jones, development officer for Dudley Performing Arts, who is leading the project, alongside Brierley Hill Arts and Culture Development Group, said she was disheartened by the damage and warned the cost of repairing the ponies could prevent further development projects.

She said: "All the comments we have had about the pony trail are really positive. Everyone I've met have said they think it looks lovely, and it does.

“The children worked really hard to decorate their ponies - they are a display of children's artwork. They haven't been done by paid artists, they are all the work of children from school's across the borough.

"But then you see this damage and think why do we bother.

"This is a community event and it is really sad that some people, who are a minority, are trying to ruin it for everyone else."

All repair work is being paid for by the organisers, before the mended ponies are relocated - possibly to an indoor location to prevent further damage.

The pony trail maps, which can be downloaded from brierleyhill.org/ will also be amended with the new locations.

Claire added: "This trail hasn't cost the council anything. No council tax was used, it all came from sponsorship from businesses, schools and community organisations.

"We will pay for the repair work to be carried out, but this will mean there is less funding available for future regeneration projects in the borough."

Following the vandalism, which West Midlands Police are investigating, the project is looking for more volunteers to become a 'pony keeper' - who can keep a regular check on an individual pony on the route.

Claire said: "The majority of ponies do have keepers and the council's environmental team check them every day, but we do need more people to help us keep a check of them.

"The more people we have on board, the better."

To volunteer contact Claire Starmer-Jones on 01384 813943 or visit dudley.gov.uk/dpa

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