VIDEO: Council support for Aylesbury David Bowie statue

Friars boss David Stopps, and sculptor Andrew Sinclair gave a speech to Aylesbury Town Council outlining their plans for the work of art.

At the meeting on Thursday, David Stopps filled in the council on the significance of Bowie’s links with Aylesbury.

He also claimed that the statue could generate £4million a year for Aylesbury, and would ensure that the town is seen as a destination for music lovers.

He said: “We are not asking for any money from Council Tax payers.

“All we are asking is for positive support from the Aylesbury Town Council, The Aylesbury Vale District Council and the Buckinghamshire County Council so that we can go ahead with raising the necessary funds (via Pledge Music – the country’s leading music crowd funding organisation) so that the statue can be created.

“We want the statue to be positioned under the arches at the bottom of the Market Square at ground level.

“In that site it could be beautifully lit at night and a 24/7 webcam could be positioned so that people can view it live anywhere in the world.”

The council responded favourably to the proposal. And voted to support the scheme by helping to lobby the other councils for their support as well.

Bowie referenced Aylesbury Market Square in the first track on the Ziggy Stardust album ‘Five Years’, and chose the town to debut the album.

a short while before Bowie formed his band The Spiders From Mars while backstage at Friars, after debuting material from Hunky Dory at the club.

The David Bowie fan club was also based in Aylesbury in the early seventies.

Over 2000 signatures have been collected calling for the statue to be erected in Aylesbury since Bowie’s death on January 10.

Andrew Sinclair, who has made sculptures for high profile clients including The Queen and publisher Felix Dennis, said that sulture would ‘become iconic for the next 100 years’ and not only would it draw Bowie fans into Aylesbury, it would ‘inspire the youth of today to learn how to be sculptors themselves’.