Plans to install a controversial sculpture artwork at a Ceredigion harbour to commemorate the exodus of 36 Welsh locals to the USA more than 200 years ago, have been withdrawn, with some critics saying the proposal would have been a vanity project ‘imposed’ on the town.

Cymdeithas Cymru – Ohio 2018, the Aberaeron-Ohio Association, sought permission from Ceredigion County Council to site the artwork, entitled The Lost Girl, by the former Tourist Information Centre, Quay Parade, on the north pier of Aberaeron’s harbour.

‘The Lost Girl’/’Y Ferch Goll,’ designed by Sebastien Boyesen Design Consultancy was to commemorate the exodus of 36 Welsh locals from the Cilcennin area of Ceredigion to Ohio in 1818, leaving from the town’s harbour to escape a life of poverty and oppression.

The proposed sculpture uses a technical fabrication process called ‘Anamorphosis,’ an optical illusion where a distorted image of Mary – in this case made of strips of steel in a grid – comes into focus when viewed from a certain location.

However, not every response to the proposed design was positive, with concerns about cost, visual impact, a claimed change in design and those commemorated not actually being from the town.

Local history society Cymdeithas Aberaeron (CAS) trustees objected to the design, endorsing “the strong public opposition that the structure will obscure the iconic harbour view out to sea and in particular our beautiful sunsets”.

It also said the scale was inappropriate and the design, which at one stage was to be a 19th century travelling trunk, would only be revealed from certain angles, leaving unsightly struts visible from most places.

A critic of the proposal, who described its connection to Aberaeron as “tenuous” and “laughable” was David Moores.

He felt there was an attempt “to impose this monument upon the town,” describing it as “an unwarranted, unwelcome and unjustified vanity project that a small minority group wish to impose upon the residents of Aberaeron”.

He also questioned how the project would be funded, and warned it could become “a litter trap,” and “an inviting spot for local dogs, cats, vermin and wildlife to perform their ablutions”.