The owner of the Briton Ferry building at the heart of the Brunel mural row has broken her silence — saying she was never asked for permission, and will not be pressured into letting it stay.
The colourful artwork, celebrating engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, has sparked an extraordinary wave of support since news broke that it must be painted over.
Hundreds of people flooded Cllr Gareth Rice’s original Facebook post with messages, many calling the mural a bright, welcoming entrance to the town and pleading for it to be saved.
Now the building’s owner has had her say.
In a public post, Amy Wilson said she owns the property through her company, AJ Wilson Property Ltd, and that no permission was ever given.
“In the two years that AJ Wilson Property Ltd have owned this property we never granted any permission for this project to go ahead,” she wrote.
She also rejected any suggestion that there was another co-owner who objected after the work was done. “There are no co-owners whatsoever,” she said.
Ms Wilson said the mural had come as a complete surprise. “Whilst working abroad I received a photograph showing a completed mural, to which I was obviously very surprised about,” she wrote, adding that she then spent weeks trying to find out who was responsible.
She said she had since faced abuse online, with her personal details shared and the police contacted — and that it had only stiffened her resolve.
“Due to the abuse I’ve received on here, I won’t be forced into allowing this mural to stay,” she said.
Cllr Rice, who funded the mural himself and has said he believed he had the correct permission, has since posted again — this time appealing for calm.
He said his original post had “never intended to create anger or animosity towards anyone, including the owners of the building”.
“They have made their wishes known, and although I’m saddened by the outcome, I respect their right to make decisions about their own property,” he wrote.
He urged people to stay respectful, adding: “We are a strong community, and we can show that even in disappointment.”
He also said he was now looking for another site for a future mural, with the response showing the appetite for public art in the town was “stronger than ever”.
The strength of feeling was clear in the hundreds of comments left under the original post.
Among them was the broadcaster and weather presenter Sian Lloyd, who has roots in the area. “This lovely kind of mural is exactly what’s needed to make us aware of the things that count in life,” she wrote.
She said she had lived in Llansawel — the Welsh name for Briton Ferry — as a little girl, and was “both heartbroken and indignant about this awful situation”.
Many others described stopping to admire the mural on their way through the town, with several urging that a way be found to keep it.
The mural was painted by street artist Jenks, whose work brightens walls across the region.
Cllr Rice has also been keen to stress that the building’s tenants, a local kitchens and bedrooms business, have nothing to do with the dispute.
For now, the Brunel mural’s days appear numbered — and a community that has fallen for it waits to see if anything can still be done.
