May 6, 2004
Source: The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1210428,00.html
On May 6, 2004 The Guardian reported, "Sheffield's skyline is to get a man-sized golden statue of Buddha following a secret discussion by city planners. The council admitted yesterday it had been wrong to exclude press and public from a brief debate on the eye-catching feature proposed for a grade II-listed church which now houses Sheffield's Buddhist centre. The statue will sit on the building roof in Walkley, where 70 locals had objected to it as too large. They sat through two hours of the meeting only to be told to leave for the Buddha debate. Sheffield council later admitted the ban was mistaken."