The prospect of Andover’s cenotaph being moved back to the High Street has been raised once again at a recent meeting of Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC).

Councillor David Coole asked the council if, following the adoption of the masterplan, if it was “not also time to restore the cenotaph back to the High Street.”

He asked if a consultation should be launched regarding the proposals, and also suggested the erection of a new churchyard memorial on the site of the current cenotaph.

However, Councillor Phil North, leader of TVBC, said that the cenotaph had been moved to its current location 64 years ago. “Consequently, most people have only ever known it in its current location,” he said.

He said that the issue had “divided opinion across the town” whenever it was raised, and said that as a result, the council currently has no plans to move the memorial.

He called on those in favour of the memorial being returned to its original location in front of the Guildhall to provide answers to a series of questions about the practicalities.

“If there’s going to be any meaningful public consultation on this matter,” he said, “then the public need all the information to enable them contribute to that discussion.

“It’s incumbent on those that wish to see the cenotaph moved to provide answers on those questions. For example, how will the cenotaph will be moved; will it survive the move without damage; how much will it cost to move it; what happens to the second world war memorials on the wall behind the cenotaph?”

A war memorial in Andover has had a long history of change. It was originally conceived of as a memorial tablet inside the Guildhall, but was subsequently expanded into the cenotaph, which was paid for by public subscription.

It was unveiled on the High Street in 1920, with the names of 214 soldiers who gave their lives listed on its sides. It lists those who died up until 1920, to account for those who lost their lives due to causes which could be attributed to the conflict.

Following plans to expand the Guildhall, which were never realised, it was moved to St Mary’s Churchyard in 1956, where plaques with the names of those who died in the Second World War were later added.

More recently, in 2014, Second Corporal R.F Robbins was added to the fallen on the memorial, while plans to light the memorial and plaques were approved in October.