'Cultural vandalism': Historic West End bridge lampposts removed by council

Historic lampposts featuring Glasgow's coat of arms have been removed from Queen Margaret Bridge. The action surprised local residents who discovered modern steel lampposts in their place. The five ornate cast iron posts have been a feature since the bridge's construction between 1926 and 1929.

Residents have called the move "cultural vandalism" amidst anger over the lack of consultation and the impact on local heritage. The bridge has been Category B listed for culture since 1987. Historic Environment Scotland confirmed they were not consulted about the posts’ removal by the council.

Local Labour MSP for Glasgow Paul Sweeney said:“Glasgow city council has trashed listed building status and conservation area status by removing these. Has the council street light replacement team just been blindly programmed to go around replacing street lighting without any consideration of heritage?” he told The Herald.

A spokesman for Glasgow city council said its engineers found the posts to be “unsafe to the point where they thought they had to replace them immediately”.

“Ideally we would have had this done in a neat process, but ultimately they had to be taken out no matter what,” he said.

Asked by The Times whether there was any consultation on the removal of the hundred year-old fixtures, the spokesman said: “Why would there be consultation? It’s a safety issue.”

A safety issue with the posts does not address why the cast-iron ornate base with the coat of arms of Glasgow were not retained on the bridge, which is part of the Glasgow West Conservation Area.

The council has said that two of the five posts will be restored, while three other posts were “beyond repair”, and will be replaced with matching designs.

Paul Sweeney noted that other cities such as Edinburgh, Dublin and London all work to maintain historic lampposts so they do not fall into disrepair.