I BELIEVE Sean Henry’s sculpture, the Seated Man, recently erected on Castleton Rigg, is eminently suited to a moorland setting.

Objectors may be surprised to learn that the North York Moors is a dynamic place where man has always interacted with nature.

There’s widespread evidence of the historic mining of coal and ironstone.

Our moorland high-spots have, for millennia, been sites for man-made structures.

There are the ubiquitous tumuli, which inspired the Lyke Wake Walk, along with prehistoric standing stones and medieval Christian crosses.

It was even suggested that the original early warning station, known as ‘the golf balls’ (mid-20th Century), on Fylingdales Moor, be ‘listed’ for posterity. Why shouldn’t the 21st Century’s legacy to the moorland landscape be the Seated Man?

His colouring blends with the surroundings, and the open moor is an ideal place for quiet contemplation.

Steve Kay, Redcar and Cleveland Independent councillor