Tributes for Ian Mudie who helped shape the modern city of Dundee

Ian Mudie, who has died aged 71, helped shape the modern city scape of Dundee and worked to preserve its built heritage.

He was head of planning for Dundee City Council until 2010 and then served as chairman of Dundee Historic Environment Trust between 2011 and 2019.

Mr Mudie also made a significant contribution to the development of Cumbernauld. He was involved in the project to bring Clyde FC to its new home at Broadwood Stadium. In addition, he helped facilitate the new Westerwood golf course in the town, designed by Seve Ballesteros.

A high-level hockey player in his youth, Mr Mudie was a golfer throughout his life and a member of Alyth and then Panmure golf clubs.

Ian was born to Muriel and Kinnaird Mudie on July 27 1949. His mother was from Aberdeen and his father was from Dundee. He was born at West Bay Nursing Home in Broughty Ferry and was a brother to Joy. Ian and Joy were extremely close throughout Ian’s life.

During his childhood the family would take holidays in Aberdeen with his maternal grandparents and in Surrey with his mother’s sister Helen and her husband Ted.

The family lived initially in Barnhill before moving to Forthill and then Monifieth. In 1960, when Ian was 11, the family moved to Blackness Road and Ian started to attend Harris Academy.

When at Harris he took up hockey and continued to play for the FP team after leaving the school.

The FPs had a successful year in 1970-71 when they won the Scottish Cup. They followed this by playing in the European Champions Cup in Frankfurt in 1972.

While the team had no great success in Germany on the field, the trip gave him many happy memories.

On leaving school, Ian attended Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee where he studied town and country planning.

He graduated in 1973 and began work as a town planner. His first post was in Hamilton for Lanarkshire County Council before he moved back to Tayside, working first in Perth and then Dundee.

He married Ann in 1975. Their first child, Jamie, was born in Dundee in 1978 and the family lived in Dundee and then Balmullo. The family then moved to Bury in Greater Manchester after Ian started working for the City of Manchester. Fiona arrived in 1980 during their time in Bury.

In 1983, the family moved back to Scotland when Ian got a post at the Cumbernauld Development Corporation. While working there he was involved in projects such as the building of Broadwood Stadium, which brought Clyde FC to Cumbernauld, and even closer to his heart was his involvement in the planning of Westerwood Golf Club, which had its course co-designed by the legend Ballesteros.

In 1991, a few years after his marriage to Ann ended, Ian moved with Jamie to Dundee. He lived on Perth Road, very close to Harris Academy, where Jamie followed in his footsteps and studied.

During his career in planning, Ian also took classes in French and Spanish and completed an MBA on a part-time basis.

Ian met Jennifer in 2005 and they were married at Trinity Church, Dundee, in 2009 and moved to a new home in Broughty Ferry with Jennifer’s son, also a hockey player and a Dundee FC supporter like Ian.

Ian was also very close to Jennifer’s parents Anne and Arthur, who came for Sunday lunch most weeks.

In 2010 Ian retired from Dundee City Council and had a busy and fulfilled life. Ian and Jennifer enjoyed the social side of his membership of Panmure Golf Club. He also took golfing holidays to Spain and Portugal with his cousins and a friend.

In 2009, he became a director of Dundee Historic Environment Trust and served as chairman between 2011 and 2019.

Ian and Jennifer enjoyed visits to garden centres and socialising and taking holidays with close friends.

Ian became a grandfather for the first time in 2008, when Fiona’s daughter was born. In recent years he became a grandfather another five times.

Jennifer and Ian’s family described themselves as shocked at his passing. “His loss has left a great hole in our lives, but we are grateful for the times we had with him and the memories we shared. In one of the many sympathy cards the family has received, Ian was described as being ‘always a gentle man with a kind heart, a smile and a twinkle’. That is how we’ll remember him.”

Ian Mudie’s funeral will take place at Dundee Crematorium on Friday. Ian’s family have set up a JustGiving page for donations to the intensive care unit at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

A SAD LOSS: Ian Mudie has died at the age of 71. Among the many tributes, he was remembered as ‘a gentle man with a kind heart, a smile and a twinkle’.