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Graffiti artists plans new sketches in Dartford after council workmen erase artwork on Tesco hoardings in Lowfield Street

Tattered Lowfield Street could see new graffiti art painted on hoardings every month if the artist behind last week’s designs gets his way.

Grandfather-of-five Gee Higgins, 43, helped organise the striking art illegally painted on hoardings left behind after Tesco abandoned its supermarket plans.

It was quickly painted over by council workmen.

Mr Higgins has now met with the council-approved Dartford Arts Network (DAN) about the possibility of working together to brighten up the street.

Mr Higgins’ vision is to turn Lowfield Street into a hotspot for the country’s top street artists to showcase their skills on a section of the hoardings, which were blanked out by the council last week 24 hours after they were adorned with vibrant paintings.

DAN’s idea – among others being considered after consulting local residents and other interested parties – is to cover the boards in fly-posters designed and created by local residents.

Tesco has yet to give formal permission to allow the hoardings to be used for artwork.

However, it has expressed interest in the idea and is expected to give the project the green light once it has looked at the proposals, according to Dartford council leader Cllr Jeremy Kite (Con).

Mr Higgins told Kent Online: “We’re just trying to expose Dartford to some more culture.

“This is a derelict area. If we can get artists working down Lowfield Street I can guarantee people will start going down there again.

“Right now people rush as quick as they can through there because it’s run down – this would make people want to go down there again.”

Mr Higgins’ work can be found across Dartford, including Central Park and the What If Gallery in the High Street. He says that he has painted pieces right across the world.

Despite his work existing for no more than a day, he remains proud of what he achieved last week. “We drew everyone’s attention to the problem of Lowfield Street as well as brightening up the area with a nice bit of art,” he said.

“We’re just trying to wake up the community, man.”

The boards in the street were initially covered in messages from Tesco promoting the impending arrival of the new store but had been blanked out by Dartford council when the scheme was scrapped.

Gavan Kearney, chairman of DAN, said: “We wanted to meet up with Gee because there was all sorts of speculation over what happened last week.

“We are very open to ideas and we are open to the opinions of all parties ... and Gee’s idea is one sort of project that would work ... we are interested in working with him.

“There is a lot of anger in the community about not being listened to, so it’s important to us to be as inclusive as possible and to make sure that the community is allowed to participate.”

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