A GROUP of councillors want to turn the Esplanade into a 'living Covid memorial' - and are urging locals to have their say on a fitting Inverclyde community tribute.

Labour councillors Robert Moran and Francesca Brennan, as well as SNP group leader Elizabeth Robertson, have backed a consultation run by RIG Arts, which aims to gather ideas for a symbol of remembrance about the pandemic which killed hundreds of local people.

Councillor Moran believes Greenock's popular promenade would be a fitting location for it, as many people took to walking along the one mile waterfront stretch to get outside during lockdown.

He and his fellow elected members are also encouraging other locals to take part in RIG Arts' Remembering Together consultation, which is part of wider national project funded by the Scottish Government.

He said: "This all came about from speaking to RIG Arts about their consultation.

"We were asked to look at memorials for Covid and we thought why not make it a living memorial.

"During the pandemic I was down here just about every day.

"I wasn't alone - the Esplanade was full of thousands of people who walked along here and to the Battery Park in a safe, socially distanced way.

"I've spoken to the leader of the council and the chief executive who have confirmed that doing this would cost practically nothing.

"We could place a small plaque on each of the benches along the Esplanade.

"People would follow the plaques along and read the tributes on them.

"It's cost effective and it's a lasting memorial to the pandemic."

Mrs Brennan, whose ward includes 'the Splash', is backing her Labour colleague's idea and has added her own suggestions.

She added: "Robert's come up with low cost, resident-led initiative.

"For the key workers, the young people who lost so much over the pandemic and the older adults who couldn't see grandchildren, the Esplanade was a safe haven to come to.

"You had fresh air and were able to look out at that view and know there was hope out there.

"It really helped people's wellbeing.

"It encapsulates the sense of contemplation and community that we had during that time.

"It would also be a celebration of our community, and that time that we didn't really have it.

"We could look at coming together in different places every year on the day we were first told about lockdown.

"There are times when we pedestrianise the Esplanade for big events, but we could start doing that for ourselves and it could be on that day."

SNP group leader Mrs Robertson, who represents the same ward, feels it is important that Inverclyde's tribute is a dynamic one.

She said: "It would be a shame if the only memorial we have to that time is one static thing in one place.

"The whole notion of it being the Esplanade, which is different at one end to the other, was appealing.

"Whether this is the thing we do in response to Covid through RIG Arts or whether in addition to that, I think it's something that we should do.

"It's an important place and it means a lot to the people who live here."

*Those who wish to take part in the consultation should visit visit www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/T3T72PT or www.rememberingtogether.scot