When will National Spitfire Monument be built?

Building work has yet to start on the National Spitfire Monument, 16 years after the design was chosen.

However, at Thursday's event in Southampton Airport to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the plane's maiden flight, organisers said they hoped to start construction later this year.

The National Spitfire Project won conditional planning permission for a site in Mayflower Park in the city in December 2024, after two previous permissions in different locations expired.

The charity said it was still trying to raise a quarter of the £6m cost.

The government has reaffirmed its pledge in 2020 to contribute £3m.

The 40m (131-foot) high monument will feature a plane on a curved steel mast denoting a vapour trail.

Designer Nick Hancock said: "This marks not only engineering history and prowess but also a time when people really dug deep.

"My first-ever model plane I ever made was a little Spitfire I liked to hang up from my ceiling.

"To imagine that I'll be sticking on on top of a mast that's 40m high and making it look like it's in flight is a wonderful thing."

Visitors to Mayflower Park can now scan a QR code on their mobile phone to see what the monument will look like in situ.

The renewed planning permission in 2024 was granted "to enable additional time for fundraising and to secure the necessary agreements to enable development to commence", Southampton City Council previously said.

The authority, which has been approached for comment, previously pledged £500,000.

The National Spitfire Project has made several applications in recent months to discharge planning conditions, according to the council website.

It said it hoped the monument would finally be finished in 2028.

The Spitfire was developed in the 1930s at Supermarine in Eastleigh, Hampshire, and was initially built in Eastleigh and Southampton.

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