What remains of Brick Man - the planned 120ft Leeds sculpture that would’ve been city's Angel of the North

One wonders whether Richard Hughes-Rowlands, the former Conservative councillor for Leeds City Council who made that comment in 1989, felt the same when he saw the Angel Of The North – the iconic sculpture towering over the A1 realised by Sir Anthony Gormley a decade after his plans for Brick Man in Leeds were shot down.

It wasn’t just the sway of cross-party political pushback that prevented the huge brick sculpture from becoming a reality in Leeds though, as a public poll held by the Yorkshire Evening Post outlined its rejection thousands.

The plans were subsequently dropped, but a spectre of what could of been still lingers in Leeds.

Standing 120ft tall, the sculpture was due to be built on Holbeck Triangle, unused scrubland near Leeds city station, which council chiefs had long earmarked for a sculpture park.

The colossus – which would’ve been around half the size of the town hall – was designed by the then-little known Anthony Gormley after he won a competition between 20 artists. It was to be built out of 120,000 bricks and would have taken 41 weeks to complete, with work earmarked to start in the summer of 1989.

A man-sized replica of the giant went on display in Leeds City Art Gallery in an attempt to win hearts and minds and while the decision on it was being considered, planning issues that resulted in the application facing a seven-month delay almost led to Gormley himself pulling the plug on the scheme.

The Yorkshire Evening Post was one of those to campaign against the £600,000 project after a poll revealed 800 people in favour but more than 2,000 against it.

Adding to his Tory colleague’s opposition to the sculpture, the then Leeds City Council leader Coun George Mudie (Lab) said of the YEP poll: "I am delighted but not surprised with the formidable common sense of the Leeds public.

"Their common sense contrasts sharply with the airy-fairy views of celebrities who don't live within 100 miles of the city."

20 years later – after the success of the Angel of the North – Coun Mudie stood by his words, telling the BBC: “People needed the help and I thought at the time it was a luxury and the wrong priority for the times. In the 80s we had Thatcher, we had industries, engineering, clothing, all disappearing. Those were the priorities. The brick man didn't fit with the priorities.

“In the 90s we might have had enough resources to take a different decision."

The Leeds Brick Man would have been the largest sculpture in the UK. Eyesore or not, it would have been a draw for curious tourists and a must-see for locals.

The sculpture was to be hollow inside, with a door at one heel and two tiny windows where the ears were, so people would be able to wander in and peer up into the empty gloom.

The only reminder of Gormley's imagined obelisk is the 6ft tall scale replica at the entrance to Leeds Art Gallery, which was cast from life with Gormley being covered in plaster. It still evokes feelings of curiosity – and regret – for those passing through.