DAREBIN Council will vote on whether to remove or replace its High St, Westgarth, median strip art, which was installed a week ago.

Mayor Tim Laurence acknowledged the work - which cost ratepayers $32,000 plus $2400 in installation costs - had provoked strong criticism from nearby Westgarth traders and on social media.

Cr Laurence said there had been many calls to remove the work, including from some councillors, but a decision wouldn't be made until the cost of such action was considered at Monday night's council meeting.

He said while removing the work would likely cost about $2000, replacing it with another public art installation could cost as much as $50,000.

While traders and social media users had raised serious safety concerns with the spiky metal design, Cr Laurence said a council officer's report showed these concerns were exaggerated.

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Westgarth Traders Association president Peter Lynch said High St users risked being impaled on the spiky work.

Mr Lynch said the council would be held responsible if a cyclist, motorcyclist or pedestrians were impaled on the "metal shard installation''.

"The installation is both a potentially lethal hazard and completely inappropriate for the Westgarth Village streetscape,'' he said.

Mr Lynch, the principal solicitor at Northcote Lawyers and Associates, said the work should be removed and another commissioned, this time with input from locals.

He said the association had asked the council several times about what work was planned, but the council had "baldly refused to notify Westgarth Traders Association of the nature of the installation''.

Marg Sangalli, from Syrinx Environmental which designed and installed the work, refuted the claim that the project posed a risk to the public.

"The risk has been assessed by the council risk department and they're happy with the project," Ms Sangalli said.

"There's a perceived risk but sometimes there's a massive difference between perceived risk and actual risk.''

Ms Sangalli said feedback from locals during installation had been positive.

But it was the complete opposite on social media this week.

A Facebook site called Mysterious Metal Pyramids of High St Northcote had comments including: "An insurance claim waiting to happen.''

One cyclist posted that he was so "bedazzled'' by the shiny work he almost crashed into it.

Comments were also posted on the Merri Action Group website, with one local describing the work as "the most god-awful, aggressive, negative entrance to Northcote/Darebin I could envisage''.

Cr McCarthy said the work looked "dangerous and a bit ridiculous'' and that he had spoken to dozens of High St users who agreed.

He wanted it removed and potentially relocated to a more appropriate site.

Cr McCarthy said the council also needed to look at how it could repair relations with traders and locals in the wake of the work, including commissioning an appropriate installation in consultation with them.

When he launched the work earlier this month, Cr Laurence said it was a celebration of the iconic Ruckers Hill land form and history.

"The design draws on the site's use of galvanised steel featuring in the furniture and tree pits of the Tram Route 86 works, and folds back to reveal the history of the site in the historic brick works,'' Cr Laurence said.

The art incorporates pointers for pedestrians to nearby places.