A councillor has questioned whether tens of thousands of pounds spent on public art which people "don't even know" is there could have been put to better use.

The development of about £60,000 worth of sculptures was provided by Redrow for the Tinkinswood Green estate, completed in 2020, as part of a legal agreement with the council.

Vale of Glamorgan Council ward member for St Nicholas and Llancarfan, Cllr Ian Perry, also claimed the council has left a portion of financial contributions from the developers unspent with just weeks to go before it has to be returned.

The local authority said it is working hard to put the financial contributions which are part of this development, known as section 106 contributions, to use.

It added that public art contributions from this development can only be used for public art.

Cllr Perry said: "There was no public engagement, so the community had no say in what was done and when you look at it, it is in the wrong place and you start to wonder what the value for money is [and] what the community benefit is of that piece of artwork in its location.

"What should happen is that money should come into the community and the community council or local organisations should be involved in deciding where it goes and what it is spent on from the very start.

"There was no opportunity to have any say on what was put on that development.

"So you have got people from outside bringing things in, but it is public art and it should be owned by the public and the public as a key stakeholder should be involved at every single stage."

Vale of Glamorgan Council said the amount of money set aside for public art in relation to the development was set out in the legal agreement entered into by the developer and the council.

When asked what he would like to have seen the money go towards, Cllr Perry said: "There are lots of things you could do in terms of art.

"You could have stone bus shelters, you could have nice village gateway signs, you could have sculptures and other things that reflect the history of the community and the village.

"There are so many ways you could spend money which create interest and deliver value, whereas hiding something away behind the back doesn't create value and people don't even know its there."

A Vale of Glamorgan Council spokesperson said: "In some instances, public art funding can be used to incorporate public art into other infrastructure such as bus stops and footways.

"However, in this instance it was decided it would be best integrated within the play area within the development itself.

"In this case there are separate Section 106 contributions allocated for community facilities and sustainable transport."

Cllr Perry said a lot could have been delivered with the section 106 contributions which have not yet been spent by the council.

In relation to the underspend, he added: "The problem we have got is that the tick box is for collecting section 106 money. It is not for delivering benefits.

"Section 106 should be delivering benefit, not just be a big number."

A Vale of Glamorgan Council spokesperson said: "It was agreed at the outset of the development that the developer would provide the public art on site.

"House builders typically then work with local artists and the wider community to develop an appropriate installation.

"In this case, local artist David Mackie was appointed.

"The artist held workshops with pupils at St. Nicholas Primary School and designed the piece with local children who were very supportive of the final design.

"Council officers liaised with the artist and the developer throughout to ensure that the public art scheme was acceptable."

Director of planning for Redrow in South Wales, Jane Carpenter, said: "The public art at Tinkinswood Green was a requirement set-out by the Vale of Glamorgan Council as part of our planning consent at the time.

"As with all of our developments, the S106 was agreed with the local authority following extensive consultation with stakeholders.

"We worked with artist David Mackie and local school children from St Nicholas Church in Wales Primary School to engage the community.

"Together, they focussed on the local archaeological features at Tinkinswood burial chamber as well as local wildlife.

"David then worked with the children to create designs that have been incorporated into the works."