ANDREW BATCHELOR: The neglect of Dundee’s Burns statue is shameful and embarrassing

The Steell statue of Burns in Dundee is only one of four in the world

Dundee rightly prides itself on many things, but one quiet point of civic pride often goes overlooked.

The city is the only place in Scotland to have one of just four Robert Burns statues designed by John Steell. It is an extraordinary thing to have in our care.

Steell’s depiction of Burns is widely regarded as one of the finest sculptural tributes to the Bard anywhere in the world, and Dundee’s version sits right at the heart of the city, at the front of the McManus, where locals and visitors pass it every single day.

That is why the current state of the statue feels so difficult to accept.

Over recent years it has become an unfortunate favourite resting spot for gulls, leaving Burns’ head and shoulders marked by a persistent white residue.

This is not a one-off or a temporary issue. It has been visible for a long time now, and it gives the impression that something of genuine historic and cultural value has simply been left to fend for itself.

The Courier recently reported that Dundee City Council has said there is no funding available to clean the statue, despite its rarity and significance.

Dundee Burns Club president Jimmy Black, who is also a city councillor, described the situation as an embarrassment.

He is right.

When people who care deeply about the city’s history and reputation are using words like that, it should give us pause for thought.

What makes this harder to stomach is the comparison with elsewhere.

The same John Steell Burns statues in London, New York and Dunedin are kept in immaculate condition.

In New York’s Central Park, the statue is spotless and clearly valued. As is the one in Dunedin, so much so, the Dundee Burns Club had to use a picture of that one to promote the Burns celebrations last year.

The contrast does not suggest a lack of pride in Dundee itself, but it does highlight a blind spot in how we look after some of our most visible heritage assets.

This does not need to be framed as an attack on the council or the people within it.

Many councillors and officers genuinely care about the city and work under intense financial pressure.

But it is still fair to question priorities.

Cleaning a historic statue would be a specialist job, yes, but it is hardly an impossible one.

Partnerships with local businesses, sponsorship, grant funding or heritage support schemes all exist for precisely this sort of purpose.

It becomes even harder to explain when money has been found in recent years for far more questionable initiatives.

When public funds can be allocated to schemes encouraging people to interact with lamp posts, street furniture and bus shelters, it is reasonable to ask why a small fraction of that sort of funding could not be found to restore one of the city’s most important monuments.

The Steell Burns statue stands in the beating heart of Dundee’s city centre.

It should be a point of pride, a photo opportunity, and a visible statement that this city values its history and its global connections.

Allowing it to remain visibly dirty and neglected sends the wrong message entirely.

This is not about nostalgia or nit-picking. It is about respect, for Burns, for Dundee, and for a shared heritage that deserves better than this.