Somewhere in the borough of Waltham Forest council, a statue of local hero Harry Kane lies unused. A sculpture of the Walthamstow-born, Chingford-raised record goalscorer for England and Tottenham was commissioned by the London borough in 2019, completed the following year at an expense of £7,200 but is yet to appear anywhere in public.
Attempts were made by local Conservative councillors to place the Kane statue on Chingford’s Weaver Line Overground railway station but that proposal was denied after a risk assessment carried out by Transport for London, on the grounds it could be targeted by rival football fans. TfL has suggested its placing should be near to – rather than in – the station, depending on local approval. Thus far, no local assent has been given to that suggestion. A further possible placing, in Ridgeway Park – Kane is an alumnus of local youth team Ridgeway Rovers – was also rejected.
