Dundee’s former lord provost John Letford has launched an astonishing attack on an “abomination” he said defaces one of the city’s most iconic sites and disrespects the memory of its war dead.
The target of his ire is the police communications mast, a 90-ft tall steel structure sharing the top of Dundee Law with the city’s war memorial.
He tried to have it moved to a less sensitive location, and his failure to do so was one of his two regrets from his 11 years as Dundee’s first citizen.
Mr Letford (78) was prompted to speak out by The Courier’s story last week on plans to place 10 wind turbines on the site of the First World War Battle of Loos in northern France.
Hundreds of Black Watch soldiers from the Dundee area were killed in the battle, and they are remembered every year by the lighting of the Law memorial on September 25.
The cenotaph on the hill that dominates the city is a proud and fitting setting for that and other solemn occasions when the city’s war dead are honoured.
Those who gather to pay their respects are horrified and offended, he said, that the stunning granite landmark is overshadowed by the mast.
“I understand the sensitivity about the Loos situation, but I think we have our very own issue with an inappropriate structure at a war memorial site,” he said. “The police communications mast right next to the Law memorial is a disgrace.
“It’s an abomination. People go there to pay their respects and remember those fine sons of Dundee who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
“They then turn round and are faced with the most horrible structure imaginable. It is appalling and shouldn’t be there.”
Mr Letford, who professes a deep respect for Dundee’s military history, said he has been irked by the mast since the start of his political career when he served on the former Tayside Regional Council.“I couldn’t really try to get anything done about it until I became lord provost,” he said.
“I went to our chief executive who consulted our planning department, and we discovered it would have been viable to move it to Balgay Hill.
“It is almost as high as the Law but there would have been no objections from neighbours or issues with the suitability of the location.
“The plan to move it was costed at £60,000, and the council was ready to pay its share.
“The chief executive approached the police and came back to me to say he had bad news John Vine, who was the chief constable at the time, had just signed a lease to keep the mast on the law for another 25 years and we couldn’t do anything about it.
“I was furious, but the police wanted it to stay where it was. I then asked if the memorial could be dismantled and moved into the city centre, but that was going to cost too much.
“I’m proud of what I achieved as lord provost, but not getting the police mast moved from the Law is one of my two main regrets.
“The other is not getting a bronze statue of a woman jute worker erected in the city, which also failed because of cost.”
A police spokeswoman said: “The mast provides essential radio communications for the police and is in a strategic position to provide the maximum amount of coverage for Dundee and the surrounding area.”