Tamworth councillor Bede Burke questioned why the Taking Flight artwork slated for the Global Gateway Park entrance ever got council's tick of approval in the first place.

"It just didn't grab me, it looks like clotheslines," he told the Leader.

"If it was a Hills Hoist, maybe."

Transport for NSW pulled the pin on the sculpture set to be installed in the middle of the Country Road Roundabout, due to safety concerns with its location, and the risk of driver distraction.

New England MP Barnaby Joyce's first comment on hearing the news was "thank goodness".

He described the artwork as "a Hills Hoist with Milo cans on it", "hideous" and said "I'm glad it's gone".

"The people of the city of Tamworth should have a say, what goes on to the door to their city? Because it's their city, not some artiste from Sydney," he said.

"I'm really proud of our city. I love it. I was born here, my great great, grandmother was born here 100 years before me.

"That tells me nothing about the city. It doesn't talk about the stock it doesn't talk about its Aboriginal heritage. It doesn't talk about its country music."

The local MP also questioned why "Tamworth didn't get a say about it".

"Imagine if you replace the golden guitar with a washing line with Milo tins on it. How many photos do you think you'd get?" he said.

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Readers took to the Leader's social media to praise the call on Tuesday, saying the money could be put to better use elsewhere.

"Finally some common sense. Councils need to stop putting things on roundabouts," Tam Gibson said.

"Next get rid of the overgrown gardens and dead trees."

"Thank goodness it was stopped. Tamworth already has enough roundabouts with obstructed vision due to badly chosen features," Jane Paton added.

"Roundabouts can look quite decorative and have nice features without them being dangerous."

Cr Burke questioned Tamworth Regional Council's choice of artwork in general.

"Nothing that I saw in Taking Flight gave me any confidence that it was how we wanted to display the wonderful entrance to Tamworth on the western side," he said.

"I just feel that we could come up with something that is more representative of Tamworth."

A spokesperson for council said it is reviewing options for the centre of the new Country Road roundabout, which will likely now involve additional landscape planting.

The intersection will now be considered as part of Council's City Entrance Strategy Project, which is underway. Initial community consultation workshops for the strategy were held in late 2021.

The concept Taking Flight was endorsed by both the Tamworth Region Arts Advisory Committee and council in March and April 2021.

The sculpture aimed to depict the connection between the Tamworth Global Gateway Park, Tamworth's landscape and the Tamworth Regional Airport.

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