When you’re in town, not just the centre but any street where there are older buildings, do you look up?
In places there are weeds, grass, bushes – even what looks like tree saplings – growing out of the stonework.
One day, you might feel the weight of that stonework.
Because any plant life growing between stones is a sign the mortar is crumbling.
It’s a vicious circle. Mortar falls out, water gets in and freezes, expanding as it does and forcing stones or bricks apart, letting more moisture in, and more flyblown seeds.
Part of the problem is that since the once-ubiquitous coal fires stopped being used, everyone stopped thinking about what’s left up on the roof.
There are chimney stacks all over the city, the flaunching on top of them, and brickwork, that is falling to pieces.
Chimney sweeps used to alert people to this, and dealt with it on their regular visits, or would tell you a roofer or brickie was needed.
But some roofs now go decades without anyone looking closely at them.
We stopped using chimneys, but the wind, rain, sunshine and frost didn’t stop.
Any roofer will tell you this. Indeed, roofers are enjoying a boom time – try getting hold of one!
A lot of chimney stacks still have old TV aerials attached. These vibrate in the wind which – over the years – shakes out more mortar.
The city council carries out regular maintenance on the roofs of their properties because they know a building owner has a legal duty to maintain their property.
The bigger problem is sandstone tenements, often with flats owned by private landlords, who don’t want to spend on roof maintenance.
In any case, getting all the owners and landlords in a close to pay their share of fixing even a small problem is like herding cats.
Young people in a starter flat as a short-term first step on the property ladder won’t spend money that might only benefit future owners.
There’s a link to an app on the council’s website to help organise shared repairs, though the app charges a fee.
But it’s willingness to act at all that’s the real problem.
And all this will only get worse and more expensive to rectify – and more dangerous to passers-by – as buildings get older and older.
It’s a timebomb.
Council should step in on Dundee flat repairs
The council could take a lead on this to a greater degree than is currently happening.
It will require hard graft, organisation, an effective communications programme, and possibly enforcement action.
It will not be easy, and no one will ever give thanks for it.
But this is a good example of a local problem that is more important, though much less eye-catching, than the party political intrigues councillors too often choose to talk about.
This is what a local authority must concern itself with, because no one else will.
This is the sort of thing councillors should be focused on if they doing the job properly.
Not national issues, not esoteric political theory, not partisan party strategy – things that make people’s everyday lives better and safer.
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