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A defiant pensioner has threatened to chain himself to a historic lamppost if council bosses try to tear it down.
Richard Parkinson, 78, said the Victorian buildings were a “precious” feature of Canterbury that must be “protected at all costs” rather than replaced by “grotesque” modern replicas.
The former city councilor and former Sheriff of Canterbury, a picture restorer, was so determined to defend the painting opposite his home in St Peter’s Lane that he even had the house cleaned and repainted himself.
A controversy has hit national headlines after Kent County Council announced plans to replace up to 240 historic lampposts deemed unsafe due to corrosion.
But Mr Parkinson, who now holds the honorary title of city councilor, says he will do everything in his power to prevent the city he groomed from being demolished.
“I’m not going to just make unnecessary threats,” he said. “I’m serious. If they come with an excavator to remove it, I’ll go in there and chain myself to a lamppost.
“These are precious, historic and much-loved features of Canterbury and should be protected at all costs.”
The lampposts were made at the HM Biggleston & Sons foundry in Canterbury, which operated from the mid-19th century until 1963, producing unique cast iron street furniture.
These examples in Canterbury are now considered unique survivors of the foundry, with campaigners demanding they be saved.
The controversy was first sparked when Kent County Council’s highways department said nine such lampposts in Cossington Road, Canterbury, had to be removed after they were found to be corroded.
Engineers recommended the use of steel replicas as they estimated the repair cost to be up to £5,000 each, meaning if all 242 remaining Biggston lampposts were eventually repaired and refurbished, the cost could be closer to £1 million.
The replicas, which cost around £800, represent a huge cost savings for the cash-strapped KCC, which aims to cut costs by revamping its operations.
Leading the resistance was the Union of Canterbury Residents’ Associations and the Canterbury Society, whose chairman, Ptolemy Deane, was particularly outspoken.
Mr Dean, conservation architect and fabric surveyor at Westminster Abbey, said the lamppost was beautiful and unique.
“The proposed replacements are off-the-shelf fixtures with so-called heritage attraction additions which look bizarre and do not benefit or beautify the streets of the World Heritage site,” he said.
ACRA commercial secretary David Kemsley said: “These lampposts are as much a part of Canterbury’s story as its walls or gates – they are a tangible link to the Canterbury Company whose craftsmanship has literally helped to light up cities around the world.
“Replacing them with mass-produced steel poles is cultural destruction.”
The Canterbury Association and ACRA have launched the Save Canterbury Streetlights campaign, calling on the city council to use planning laws to revoke permitted development rights to replace or retrofit streetlights within city conservation areas.
In the face of overwhelming opposition, county council chiefs have now defended their approach and said none of the historic positions will be replaced while talks are underway with Canterbury City Council to find a better solution.
Councilor Peter Osborne, KCC’s cabinet member for roads and transport, took to the agency’s Facebook page to “set the record straight”.
“Kent County Council has not removed all lampposts in Canterbury and most of the lampposts in the city are not even Victorian,” he said.
“Since 2020 we have only replaced cast iron columns which proved unsafe, using steel columns with traditional style features to maintain a traditional look. We have not received any complaints about these and most people have not noticed the change.
“This issue is about nine cast iron columns on Cossington Road that failed safety inspections during routine inspections. Painting them will not repair internal corrosion or underground damage. The original manufacturer is long gone and a full refurbishment would be impractical and prohibitively expensive for taxpayers.
“We are not legally required to install heritage-style lighting in conservation areas, but we do so – because it is important to us to protect Canterbury’s heritage character.”
Ornate lanterns will be reused and new columns will be equipped with decorative features, he said.
The KCC is working with the city council on “better design” and Cllr Osborne has invited the Canterbury Association to discuss it.
He added: “Public safety comes first. This approach provides safety, heritage and value for money.”
The council is using Leveling Up government funding to rebuild its Dane John Gardens cast iron lamppost.