Is this it? That’s what two of newest Sean Henry sculptures in Woking seem to be saying to each other in the new Henry Plaza, part of the new Victoria Square/Place development opened to much belated fanfare recently. When we visited on Friday – April Fool’s Day, as it happens – we enjoyed the sculptures exhibition and the smaller one of paintings, both put on by Woking Lightbox. But we were dismayed by the emptiness of the plaza, named after a Woking councillor of yesteryear. Apart from a couple of lonely security guards, with not much to do, and a further sculpture of baubles piled on top of each other, there was nothing there. Emptiness.
What is the council planning to make this space interesting? Pot plants? Buskers? Probably not. One thing’s for sure, according to the security guards. Whatever they have planned, you won’t be able to film or take a picture of it. One of the security men drew my attention to a notice half-obscured by the automatic doors to the plaza, which forbids filming or taking of pictures. This did not apply to the opening days of the plaza, he assured me, but would be coming into effect shortly. Leaving aside the fact that there is nothing there to take pictures of, I was outraged. This development has caused massive traffic disruption in Woking for years, has opened late, has caused the council to increase still further its enormous debt – and yet it is forbidding the council taxpayers of Woking to take pictures of this empty space. This is a very serious question. Who the hell do they think they are?
Wokingmatters 