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I promised on Tuesday that I would update you after I had spoken to , the designer who had probably the first major setback of his otherwise rather glittering career.

There won't be a decision from on what will happen to his B Of The Bang sculpture until next year - and the ball is definitely in the council's court. But it was clear from my conversation with him that he wants to see it saved.

Heatherwick was constrained in what he could say because of . But it was obvious the piece is very dear to his heart. Not least because it's his design, but also because he was a student in Manchester and he passionately believes that exciting choices can be made about our built environment - that cities need things that make them distinctive and that sculpture can play a significant role.

I think that if the council - who, let's not forget, had the ambition to commission his piece in the first place - were willing to fix what has gone wrong, then they have the option to do so with the money from the settlement. They, of course, have to weigh up local sentiment and it continues to be divided pretty much down the middle.

Local newspaper, the , says the sculpture is , but that decision is far from certain. The newspaper appears to be presenting what it clearly thinks is the prevailing view: That the sculpture must be removed, and it is running a video entitled . On other Manchester websites, such as , postings are full of enthusiastic support of the work.

Public art gets people involved. It's meant to, and passion is an important part of that debate.