HE helped ensure one of Cardiff’s most famous landmarks wasn’t lost for future generations.

Now calls have been made for a permanent memorial to the late councillor who was one of the leading drivers behind the rebuilding of the iconic Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay.

Duncan Longden, 87, who passed away last month, was influential in raising £250,000 to have the 19th- century white wooden church reinstalled on the city’s waterfront in 1992 – five years after it was dismantled.

The church, which was originally built in 1868 between the East and West Docks as a meeting place for Scandinavian sailors who frequented Cardiff, is now one of the city’s best-loved landmarks and a symbol of the regeneration of the Bay.

It has another claim to fame as the church where children’s author Roald Dahl and his sisters were christened and also worshipped.

Mr Longden was awarded the Olav medal by the King of Norway for his efforts in re-establishing the church and developing Welsh-Norwegian links.

He chaired the Norwegian Church Preservation Trust, which was set up in 1987 to preserve the then derelict and de-consecrated church.

With the help of £90,000 in funding from the Hordaland county council, he was also instrumental in raising the money to have the church dismantled and stored while the Atlantic Wharf was being built.

By the time the church reopened in 1992, Mr Longden had moved to Yorkshire to where he and his wife retired.

Fellow former councillors have paid tribute to him.

Paddy Kitson described how he created a one-man opposition to a redevelopment in Cardiff Bay.

He said: “He believed the soil contained poisonous chemicals. He was a one-man team; the rest of us found him almost like a gadfly.”

“But that’s not a surprise with a man of his integrity.”

Ewart Parkinson, Cardiff council’s first city planner, also remembered his integrity. “He was an outspoken creature and often created trouble by speaking his mind clearly,” he said.

Mr Longden was born in London in 1923, but moved to Middlesbrough where he went to school before completing a Royal Horticultural Society course. During this time he was lodging at the aunt of his future wife Mary. They married in Hull in 1949.

The couple moved to Fairwater in Cardiff in the 1960s and he joined the council, to be involved on and off for nearly 30 years. He ran his own gardening business and even brought this expertise to the council, specialising in environmental and planning matters.

Mr and Mrs Longden had four children: Rosemary, Robin, Wendy and it was a painful memory for them both to remember the death of their eldest son, Andrew. Mr Longden is also survived by granddaughters Fae and Polly.

Nigel Howells, who chairs the Norwegian Church advisory committee, said he would speak to fellow committee members about organising an event at the church to commemorate the work done by Mr Longden.

Coun Howells said: “Obviously mMy thoughts are with the family at this time. I will contact the other members of the committee and I am sure we will consider the most appropriate way to remember the part he played in preserving the Norwegian Church.”