North Lanarkshire Council choses site for memorial to COVID victims

dailyrecord.co.uk:

North Lanarkshire councillors have chosen to have a single pandemic memorial installed in Motherwell’s Strathclyde Park rather than several smaller ones in various towns.

More than 2200 COVID-19 related deaths were recorded in North Lanarkshire between March 2020 and October 2022.In February, the environment and transport committee agreed to memorialise those who passed with a monument, believed to cost around £100,000, in Strathclyde Park created under the Remembering Together project run by Greenspace Scotland and the Scottish Government.

The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now. Get all the news from your area – as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – straight to your fingertips, 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you.Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire - iOS - Android However, at a meeting of the full council, Councillor Adam Smith (SNP, Cumbernauld East) called for this investment instead to take the form of several smaller memorials, following the example of some other authorities such as East Dunbartonshire.

He said that the proposed nine memorials, each costing around £11,000, would help challenge the perception that North Lanarkshire is “Motherwell -centric,” while allowing people to more easily participate in acts of remembrance.But this was opposed by Councillor Helen Loughran (Labour, Thorniewood) who argued that, while the council acknowledged the devastating impact of the pandemic on communities, it was more appropriate to erect a single monument.She said the design of the memorial