Re-erecting police mast would be ‘obscene’

June 10, 2026

councillor-rory-mast — Councillor Rory Handy Next To The Mast.

A community plea to re-erect a police radio mast has been branded “complete nonsense”, as councillors warned it would be “obscene” for taxpayers to pay for the project, writes Local Democracy Reporter, Bill Edgar.

The City of Durham Parish Council’s bid to restore the dismantled mast at Aykley Heads has been strongly opposed by councillors in Darlington, who said the police have greater priorities to focus on.

The Grade II-listed concrete tripod structure was installed outside Durham Police’s Aykley Heads base in 1968 but was dismantled in 2017 for a housing development.

However, a planning condition required it to be retained and re-erected. But that has yet to happen, and the structure has been kept in a storage area and covered in tarpaulin ever since.

An application by Durham Police to demolish the mast was rejected in 2023.

Members of the Police and Crime Panel, which includes councillors from County Durham and Darlington, were told the restoration project is “exceptionally complex”.

Up to £55,000 has already been spent on a feasibility study examining the mast’s future, including potential locations and required works.

Kevin Nicholson, an Independent member in Darlington, said: “I’m sorry to anyone in Durham who might think this is sentimental, but it is obscene that taxpayers in Darlington could be funding a 50 metre concrete spike.

“It’s an obscene amount of money, and given the challenges that people are facing, I don’t think they probably know the extent of what it’s going to cost to re-erect it.”

Earlier this year, the City of Durham Parish Council called for an independent probe into the lack of activity as community leaders warned the mast had been “dumped to rot”.

Responding to the demolition application in 2023, councillors likened any potential demolition to committing “cultural vandalism”, with one adding that it would be “like knocking down Durham Cathedral”.

But Darlington’s Jonathan Dulston isn’t convinced. “It’s complete nonsense,” he said.

The Conservative councillor said the police should be prioritising “bobbies not buildings”.

Cllr Dulston added: “What people expect in this day and age is for us to be sensible.

“The world is not talking about this historically, culturally and important piece of concrete being re-erected. There might be a very small parish that is talking about it, but it’s not on anyboy else’s radar.”

Cllr Ellie Hopgood, county and parish councillor for Durham City, said the future of the mast is a “very big issue” locally and suggested an information board acknowledging the mast’s heritage could be a compromise.

Strict controls on buildings and structures around the city mean that anything that would obstruct the view of Durham Cathedral, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, is not allowed.

“I cannot envisage there is anywhere around the city this can be re-erected without breaching that,” she said.