A GREEN Party activist is calling for a re-think on plans to erect a sculpture on Halesowen’s drab Grange Road island.

Nearby resident Tim Weller, who has waged a 30-year campaign to persuade Dudley Council to landscape the roundabout on the A456 – is urging a u-turn on the latest proposals.

Black Country artist Luke Perry has been tasked with coming up with ideas for an iconic steel structure representing Halesowen to enhance the featureless island, which is a major gateway into the town.

The project is being spearheaded by the town’s chamber of trade, Halesowen in Bloom, businesses and Dudley Council, which said landscaping was not possible because of the myriad of utility services that run underneath the roundabout.

But Mr Weller, of nearby Hunnington Crescent, who last year made a head-turning floral protest on the roundabout, has “pleaded” for the £35,000 expected cost of a sculpture with some landscaping to be spent on grass and flowers.

He said: “The roots from weeds, grass and flower beds do not come anywhere near to touching the precious, fragile pipes and cables beneath this roundabout.”

Mr Weller, who stood for the Green Party in May’s Dudley Council elections, added: “If the private sector can come up with large amounts of money to commission Luke Perry to do a large, impressive looking sculpture, why can't this money be used to water the flowers and cut the grass, like every other council up and down the land manages to do?”

He also believes plants will be beneficial by absorbing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide produced by the large number of vehicles that use the congestion-hit A456 and the roundabout.

But chamber of trade chairman Wayne Edwards said long term maintenance costs also had to be considered in drawing up proposals for the island.

He said green landscaping had been “dismissed” by the council because there are no funds available.

“We have to meet DMBC design criteria, for both the on-going maintenance of whatever is agreed can be put on the island, whilst allowing easy access to the services underneath.”

Halesowen in Bloom secretary John Young added: “Landscaping does not have to be flowers and plants – stone, metal and plastic can all be sued to make a barren space interesting.”

It is hoped Mr Perry will come up with a design in time for a meeting on September 11.

His initial proposal for an anvil and hammer was dismissed as too generic of the Black Country and not reflecting the history of Halesowen.