A Montrose businessman is involved in a war of words with Angus Council in a bid to see the saltire flying again at the town’s beachfront.
Angus Council said it will not be able to display the saltire until September when three other flags are removed. That baffled Henry Pinder, who spoke to The Courier next to a 40ft flagpole with nothing flying from it.
“I don’t think they know what’s happening in Montrose,” he said.
Mr Pinder, who runs the Beach Cafe and amusement arcade, took matters into his own hands. The businessman said he has been looking for answers since it failed to be put back up and claimed he has had the runaround from the parks department. At the end of his tether, Mr Pinder went out and bought a saltire.
He marched down to Angus Council’s HQ in Forfar and hand-delivered it, telling them, “There is no excuse now go and put it on the pole.”
However, while speaking to The Courier, a council employee turned up at the beachfront and handed him back his £5.50 saltire.
Mr Pinder said, “The flagpoles have been there for 15 years and I have been here 16 years. Every year there is a beach award flag and the saltire. It’s been a fixture on the beach.”
He added, “The flagpole is about 40 feet and it’s massive. It’s extremely popular with tourists people stand on the view deck and get their photo taken with the background.”
Mr Pinder said, “We had a busload of Germans in recently and there was no flag there. They wanted to take a photograph but there was no Scottish flag in the background.
“Why is there a flagpole and no Scottish flag on it? That is my argument. It’s summertime and we get holidaymakers and day-trippers and there is no Scottish flag on the pole.”
He added, “I’ve been arguing with the council about this for a couple of months and I phoned head office in Forfar and you get fobbed off. I know there are budget cuts but how much does it cost to buy a saltire?’Just petty'”I am member of the public and a member of the business community. I’ve donated a flag to Montrose beach so go and put it on the pole. To hand it back to me in the way they did and say they wouldn’t put it up was just petty.”
Mr Pinder said,”How can they say they don’t have a free flagpole? I am standing beside a flagpole that doesn’t have a flag on it clearly, they have no idea.”
A council spokesman said, “Traditionally, we have always raised two flags at the Montrose seafront a saltire and an Angus Council flag.
“However, since we received Seaside Awards for the beach we require to fly three flags two flags showing the extent of the dog-free zone and one indicating the beach’s status under the awards scheme.
“However, when the seaside award period finishes at the end of September, and these flags are removed, we will once more fly the saltire.”
It is not the council’s first row over a saltire. In 2007, after the Angus Alliance announced plans to unfurl a new county flag to replace the national flag, a campaign to save the saltire was mounted.
The council was forced to put up extra flagpoles on the main council buildings at an extra £5000 cost so the new flag could fly alongside the saltire.