Spitfire memorial campaign has lift-off

9:01am Monday 29th October 2007

Comments (11)   Have your say »

A HIGH-PROFILE team has been set up to turn the vision for a grand Spitfire memorial in Southampton into a reality.

The Spitfire Panel will take charge of fundraising and investigate the feasibility and design of the memorial to the great Second World War fighter aircraft.

In a major step forward for the Daily Echo's Give Us A Spitfire campaign, key players from aviation, the military, business and the media will convene for the first time next month.

The PanelKen Clarke: South-east area director of the Royal Air Force Association.Trevor Graham: Director of Slipstream and Hampshire SoundGeorge Bromley: Acting chairman of the Southampton Spitfire SocietyJan Halliday: Director of communications at Southampton Airport.Alan Jones: Director of the Solent Sky Museum.Ian Murray: Editor of the Daily Echo.Councillor John Hannides: Southampton City Council Cabinet member for Leisure and Culture.

Councillor John Hannides, who formed the group, said the pool of talent would launch a fighting fund that would span the globe.

"This is real action. For the first time a group of this type has been put together to create a proper support structure to manage the Spitfire project," he said.

"The composition of the Spitfire Panel reflects the gravity of what we are trying to achieve. It's a reflection of the fact that this is something the city council, and me personally, see as a key project for Southampton.

"From our perspective we plan to make this a national and global fundraising appeal, particularly within the Commonwealth."

One man invited to become a founding member of the group is Nursling Second World War pilot George Bromley who credits the Spitfire with saving his life.

The 84-year-old acting chairman of the Southampton Spitfire Society recently called on the city's younger generation to not neglect their heritage. "The problem we've got is that it would mean a great deal to the older generation, but the younger generation don't know too much about it and I don't think they know an awful lot about the war," he said.

"It's not glorifying the war, it's just recognising a part of the history of the town."

This newspaper's campaign was launched earlier this month after the Southampton Partnership, an unelected strategy group, decided not to spend up to £250,000 of public money on a life-size bronze replica and instead splash the cash on a controversial model of the city and 13 new welcome signs.

The group has since rejected a plea from Cllr Hannides to invest the remaining £85,000 into the Spitfire project.

Explaining the decision in a letter, Southampton Partnership chairman Ros Cassy said the memorial did not satisfy certain criteria but welcomed the new fundraising campaign.

The city council has already pledged £72,000 to the fighting fund and Cllr Hannides will now investigate if there are any funding opportunities from the public art component of the Section 106 agreement.

Under the planning agreement, the council is able to seek funding for public art projects from developers building in the city.

"We will put together a description of the Spitfire project that complies so that when there is a major development coming into the city we may benefit from contributions," Cllr Hannides said. "Everyone has their own opinion on what is public art, but in my view the memorial could be a classic and striking piece of art for the city. I also think that it would be a project developers would be very happy to contribute towards."