Tamworth Murray Street underpass art idea popular among community, but some locals unsure

Pat Burrows wants the walls of the underpass painted, and many residents are backing him.

Mr Burrows has lived on Murray Street his whole life, and said after seeing many silos painted and some coastal towns showing off their local artists, he wants to see it done close to home.

"It's always been bland and boring [and] people always run and walk up there for fitness, so it'd be a nicer walk in Tamworth instead of an ugly eye sore. It'd be pretty," he said.

He posted his suggestion in the 'Tamworth; who, what, when, where, how' Facebook group on Sunday, and since then, has received more than 1000 reactions and more than 190 comments.

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Tamworth Regional Crime Prevention Working Group member, Cr Russell Webb, said there "may well be some merit" in the idea, but it might be distracting to motorists.

"People may be driving and looking at the work and then that could result in an accident," Mr Webb said.

"It would probably increase the likely hood of a collision.

"In a nutshell, whilst it sounds like a reasonable idea, it's probably not something that we could support without going to the police or traffic committee, and I would think they'd reject it."

Local artist Tony La-Chiusa understands this point of view, and said there would be many things to consider before diving into the project.

"For such a main thoroughfare, it'd be a massive job," Mr La-Chiusa said.

"Simple things like traffic control, what do you do on a major road like that? You'd had to shut off one lane, then how does that affect traffic? How do you fund it? Should you do it in the day, or in the night? What would the design encompass? What colours? Would it be a distraction for traffic?"

He attended a meeting with Tamworth Regional Council, local job agencies, and others of note in March 2020 to discuss painting the underpass, but said COVID halted this.

"There was a lot of different businesses involved to find out what everybody wanted and it was very productive, then COVID hit and everything went quiet," he said.

Ultimately, he was behind the idea to brighten the space, however it turned out.

"You're never going to keep everyone happy, but speaking as an artist, we are way behind, Tamworth, in lots of areas," Mr La-Chiusa said.

"I think it's miles behind other communities and ... a lot of other towns have got street art.

"If [Murray Street underpass] doesn't kick off, maybe we can start with something smaller."

The council was contacted but was unavailable for comment.