Slavery plaque on Scots memorial could go after plan approved for its removal

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Plans have been approved to remove a slavery information plaque under Edinburgh’s Melville Monument dedicated to Henry Dundas after a battle from his descendants to get rid of it.The brass plate, which was added following Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstrations claimed delays to abolition advocated by the politician resulted in “more than half a million enslaved Africans crossing the Atlantic.” A group, which includes members of the Dundas family, said the plaque’s wording is “cartoonishly inaccurate” and added it was “hurtful to our family.”They lodged a planning application with the council in a bid to get rid of it – which was approved by councillors on Wednesday.

However, they need to get the go-ahead from owners of the buildings around St Andrew Square – who have ownership of the monument – before it can be taken down.Councillor Chas Booth, Edinburgh Greens spokesperson on planning, said the development management sub-committee was unable to refuse the plan as “there were no valid planning reasons to refuse this application.”He said: “The planning system cannot take a view on the wording of the plaque, and only looks at the preservation of the historic structure.

This decision does not mean the plaque will be removed, nor should it be.”Councillor Booth described the move by the Melville Monument Committee, which is led by Bobby Dundas, a direct descendant of the 1st Viscount Melville, as an “attempt to whitewash.” He added: “It’s vital that the city acknowledges and addresses our role in slavery and racism in our colonial past.”The wording of the plaque was agreed by city councillors in 2020 following protests sparked by the BLM movement against the controversial statue which sits atop a 150ft column in the city