AN attempt to force a U-turn over a community arts exhibition in Bedford Square this September was rejected by town councillors on Tuesday.
Cllr Pat Warne said that to use the town hall as a backdrop for a banner hung with 2,000 12-inch colourful figures made out of recycled plastic bags, was 'sacrilege'.
'I struggle to imagine 2,000 figures strung across the face of our lovely town hall.
'Some call it art — some would call it rubbish,' she said.
Cllr Warne said the banner could fall down and hurt someone — she said the town council's standards had dropped and that members should remember they were custodians of the town's buildings.
Cllr Warne suggested the exhibition, agreed at last week's properties committee meeting, could hang in the pannier market or library.
Cllr Roger Mathew said: 'We are being asked for a couple of weeks in September to allow a bizarre project to decorate the front of the town hall.
'Whether you think it is bizarre or exciting is a matter of taste.
'I don't think it's unreasonable — if we find we don't like it we don't need to ever do it again — let's be a bit imaginative.'
And Cllr Caroline Keane said it was unfair to term children's artistic efforts as 'rubbish'.
The exhibition is the brainchild of Tavistock artist Maggie Squire, who wants to involve children and adults of all ages in the STRAW project (Skills Training and Rural Arts Week) which also celebrates the year of the artist.