The Waverley community has been offered a sculpture of the locally owned and trained 1983 Melbourne Cup racehorse winner Kiwi, with jockey Jimmy Cassidy.

1983 Melbourne Cup winner Kiwi and jockey Jimmy Cassidy. The sculpture is a work in progress with the bridle and reigns still to be attached and finishing work undertaken to the wax mould prior to it being bronzed.

South Taranaki District Council (STDC) community development manager Claire Symes says New Plymouth artist Fridtjof Hanson has created the sculpture out of plasticine and is offering his creation for free.

“We are very grateful to Fridtjof for his creation, however the cost of bronzing the sculpture is $155,000. There would also be additional installation and lighting costs,” she says.

The South Taranaki District Council is currently consulting on its 2021-31 Long Term Plan and in the Plan some funding has been budgeted for public art in Waverley as part of the town centre upgrade project for the next financial year. Having a public art project was previously identified as a key action during the development of the Waverley Town Masterplan in 2019.

“A committee has been formed to bring the sculpture to Waverley and they are working with our STDC Community Development team to find out whether the community agrees that the Council’s Long Term Plan funding should be used for the Kiwi sculpture and are also investigating other ways to help fund the project,” says Claire.

“Please let us know what you think by completing the short online survey here or by filling in the questionnaire at the Waverley LibraryPlus, by 4pm 30 April 2021.

© Scoop Media