This region, like many others, has man-made structures that dominate the landscape and sometimes interrupt the skyline.

I am not referring to traditional buildings like church spires, ruined castles and abbeys or industrial chimneys but rather those ornamental pieces that do not appear to serve a particular or modern function, interesting and attractive though they might be.

In this part of England we have the mighty Angel of the North, near Gateshead, the Parthenon-like Penshaw Monument to the north east of Durham, the White Horse of Kilburn, near Thirsk, and, until it was stolen, the puzzling abstract aluminium sculpture by Austin Wright on East Moors near Helmsley. There was also the famous Rosedale chimney.

I was reminded of these objects when I read about plans to erect a large white horse in the Kent countryside. The world can boast some colossal figures such as the statue of Christ the Redeemer overlooking Rio de Janeiro; on its plinth, the statue is 120 feet high with an arm-span of almost 100 feet.

The colossus of Rhodes was about the same height whilst a statue of Mother Russia commemorating the dead of Stalingrad since 1967 stands at a mighty 171 feet, with a sword in her hand rising to a further 108 feet.

Our British landscape is already host to several white horses that are carved into hillsides, some being fairly recent additions and others dating to the mists of time. The White Horse of Kilburn is a modern and very local example. However, the one proposed for Kent is quite different.

If approved, it will not be carved from a hillside but will stand on flat land at Ebbsfleet where it will be eminently visible to people arriving in this country from the continent, whether they come by sea, rail or air.

There is also to be a development of 10,000 new homes nearby. It is felt that the symbolism of a white horse will speak volumes about the English way of life, the countryside, our ancient mythology and our rich history.

The proposal is that the White Horse of Ebbsfleet will be a stallion standing 164 feet high - this is about 100 feet taller than the Angel of the North and an average person will be no higher than one of its hooves.

I believe this will be the tallest piece of artwork in England and its site will be greater in area than 50 football pitches.

Unlike so many similar edifices, it will not stand on a hilltop but on flat ground, and indeed, the white horse is an ancient symbol of Kent. For many reasons, therefore, the representation of a giant white horse seems especially relevant.

It is inevitable that objections will be raised if this project is approved - I recall the fuss when the three famous white balls, or radomes, of Fylingdales were announced.

However, there was a bigger fuss when it was stated they would be demolished in favour of the truncated trapezoidal pyramid that now dominates that area of the North York Moors.

The likelihood of the White Horse of Kent becoming a reality does raise questions about what can or should become part of our landscape. Down the centuries, however, people have added structures to the open countryside, often with an important purpose in mind.

On my local moors, for example, there are some 1,300 standing stones whose purpose might not be evident in modern times but which, when they were erected, would serve as way markers, milestones or guide posts, parish boundary markers, crosses to guide pilgrims and monks, or even memorials to people of a bygone age. These stones have become part of our local history and indeed, a new stone cross was erected in Rosedale to mark the millenium.

Over the years, we have become accustomed to high buildings such as tower blocks of offices and flats, the London Wheel, our cathedral towers and church spires, the legs of the Humber Bridge or the tall cranes that mark the ports like Middlesbrough, Hull and Newcastle.

We can add television transmitter masts and even artificial mounds like Freeborough Hill near Moorsholm - all have been added to our landscape at some stage and today we accept or even admire them.

But suppose someone proposed a 175 feet tall figure of the Giant of Penhill, to be erected on the summit of the Wensleydale mountain that bears his name? Or a massive sculpture of the Lambton Worm or St Cuthbert on the outskirts of Durham?