You’re all aware that the Kes Group is immensely proud of the bronze statue of Billy Casper and his Kestrel that stands in the Precinct.

We’re delighted because, with the help of Barnsley people, we raised every penny of the costs ourselves.

However, I sometimes wonder whether Graham Ibbeson’s sculpture is fully appreciated by everyone.

Let me explain: when Danny Boyle planned the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games, he was tasked with presenting to the world all that is great about British culture, since time immemorial.

Amazingly, he chose a short clip from the Kes film to be included alongside references to Shakespeare, Brunel, Dickens, The Beatles, the NHS, etc.

Moreover, some of the greatest icons of the 21st century have recently given testimony to the importance of Kes in their own lives. Last year, the actor, Christopher Eccleston said that the movie was the “most important cultural event of his life” and the “greatest film ever”.

James Graham (writer of Sherwood and many other master pieces) explained on Desert Island Discs, last summer, how watching Kes for the first time, blew him away and changed his life forever.

So let’s never underestimate the statue’s importance and what it represents. It is Barnsley’s Angel of the North, it’s our Eden Project, our Whitby Abbey, our Stonehenge and our Great Laxey Wheel.

And so we’re rightly proud of Billy and his bird, and at the same time, we pity our poor South Yorkshire neighbours who have nothing to equal it.

Now, I’ll get to the heart of this week’s column.

We had many marvellous Labour councillors raising money for our sculpture, and some wonderful council officials who moved mountains to help us. But there were two powerful civic ‘magnificos’ who worked in tandem to undermine our project from the very start and at every turn, thereafter.

This hostile pair told us loud and clear that not a single penny of rate-payers’ money would be ‘wasted’ on our project.

That’s okay, we told them – you can keep your money – we’re on our way to raising £90,000.

Then they said: “You’ve not followed our instructions, so we’re ordering you to suspend your project indefinitely, or else.”

And we replied: “Suspend our project indefinitely? You’ve no chance! We’re going ahead with it whether you like it or not!”

Then they told us: “We’ll never agree to your statue being positioned in the New Square because underneath it are subterranean passages, and your heavy statue will crash straight through the floor.” (I kid you not)

We took this pronouncement as gospel. It must be true because, surely, council representatives wouldn’t make something up like that, would they?

Eventually, after years of campaigning for a decent site for our statue, they offered us a few backwater positions that were so out-of-the-way, no one would ever know our statue existed. Consequently, one by one, all were rejected.

But after fierce campaigning we were finally offered a good site just outside the Alhambra Centre – take it or leave it.

We agreed to accept on condition that the posts – that stand like a pair of ugly sisters beside the plinth – were removed. That promise was given, the deal was struck and, soon, the sculpture was in position.

It’s now three and a half years since Billy and his kestrel was unveiled and the ‘awkward duo’ are no longer with the council. However, to our intense frustration, the ‘ugly sisters’ still spoil the view.

A couple of weeks ago, two life-long Kes fans –Kenny Holmes and Ian Fletcher – travelled many miles to visit our town and pay homage to the sculpture. Without prompting, Kenny said, “Pity about the posts.”

Then ‘Fletch’ said: “It’s crazy. Why, on earth, don’t the council shift ‘em?”

We, in the Kes Group, don’t want to be at the centre of a vitriolic dispute. We simply want the council to take cognisance of the cultural importance of our statue and honour its solemn promise to remove the twin eyesores, without delay.