Oh Heck! – We’re serious about A1 Sausage sculpture plan

A North Yorkshire sausage maker has unveiled plans to create a ‘Sausage of the North’ landmark sculpture at its factory beside the A1(M).The story may have been published at 0001 on Monday 1st of April 2019 but according to the company this wasn’t an April Fools.Heck Foods are serious about this.The sausage makers are set to submit plans to Hambleton District Council in the summer for a sausage-shaped structure rising up to 60m above the former pig farm at Kirklington, near Bedale.The firm, which produces about 700 sausages a minute at the plant, says the colossal artwork would take inspiration from Sir Anish Kapoor’s Orbit sculpture at the London Olympic park.Heck said Sausage of the North would be “much more than just a static statue”, with a platform with a 360-degree view of the North York Moors National Park and a helter-skelter ride that will take visitors from the top to the bottom.The height of the proposed sculpture would be less than the tower of the energy from waste incinerator plant overlooking the A1(M) near Knaresborough, some 18 miles south of the sausage factory.If approved it would be the North of England’s largest sculpture and Heck estimates someone would see it every second as they drive past on the A1.The proposals come a month after the district council granted the firm planning permission for a Sausage World visitor attraction, only for the firm to then be told funding from the European Union had been refused because of Brexit.He said Heck was now looking at different ways to make Sausage World happen, and the sculpture proposals were “all about opening our doors to people”.He said as the firm increasingly produced vegan and lower fat products it planned to offer fitness classes and visitors the chance to make their own sausages at the factory.North Yorkshire County Council leader Councillor Carl Les, who used to run the nearby Leeming Bar Services, said it was disappointing that Heck had lost its funding for Sausage World, but that he was uncertain whether the Sausage of the North sculpture was the correct proposal for the site.Heck is running an online poll today (Monday, April 1) to gauge support for its Sausage of the North plan. To vote, visit Heck on twitter @heckfood #wewantsausageofnorth #sausageofnorth #whattheheck