Planning applications have been submitted to Bury MBC for the imminent removal of Sir Edwin Lutyens poignant statue, originally commemorating the fallen of the Great War, from its historic Bolton Road location to Silver Street’s Sparrow Park.

Almost 3,000 citizens have raised their concerns about this insensitive displacement, and the Bury Times columns have reflected the wide range of objections this unpopular proposal has caused.

Unlike the brave soldiers whom the iconic white monument honours, the military top brass have not had the courage or decency to stick their heads above the parapet to answer the charges so eloquently expressed by the critics of this wretched scheme. What have they to hide?

Our local councillors too, with the honourable exception of Roy Walker, seem to have taken a vow of silence on this issue.

When election time looms the letters pages are full of fire and brimstone, with all parties knocking the spots off each other’s character and policies very often on matters which may interest the politicians rather than the public at large. On this subject — which thousands of people have raised their democratic voices — not a word.

Some may still wonder what the fuss is about, but the ghosts of history never rest and the Lancashire Fusiliers in general, and our Bury ancestors in particular, deserve lasting recognition of those heroes of the First World War who enlisted, trained, fought, and, in too many cases, died for their country.

One thousand eight hundred Bury men alone perished in the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign, and the Lancashire Fusiliers, with 18 VCs and numerous other medals and commendations, were the most decorated regiment in the British Army. Almost 14,000 LFs died in that bloody war, and an estimated 60,000 more suffered injury or severe mental trauma including my own grandfather.

While Sir Edwin Lutyen designed the monument free of charge, the grateful people of Bury, even on their meagre wages, raised £30,000 (approx £1 million in today’s currency) to cover the cost of the portland stone, transportation, and labour of this imposing edifice.

Is it any wonder there is public anger at this proposed act of municipal vandalism, and does anyone believe the memorial garden and sculpture (our heritage) should be moved and replaced by a featureless flat-pack?

The retention of the monument with imaginative landscaping would show respect to the ashes and urns of loved ones would even make heroes of our councillors.

Alan Fletcher