Fury over town centre funding 'bombshell'
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A ROW has erupted over the decision to award over £40,000 town centre regeneration fund cash to revamp a Buckie play park.
Ian Johnston Park, a Moray Council-run facility, has been handed a total of £43,000 – initially a £45,000 grant – for new play equipment from a total of £220,000 allocated to the town as part of a £1.2 million award to Moray from the Scottish Government. Current equipment at the park has been deemed passed the end of its lifespan and has been fenced off for safety reasons.
However, the news has left a number of community groups – Buckie and District Community Council (BDCC), Buckie Area Forum (BAF), Buckie Regeneration Group, Buckie's Roots, Friends of Buckie Square (Fobs) and the Friends of the Fishermen's Hall Association (FFHA) – angry and bewildered as, despite submitting an ambition list of projects based solely in the town centre, received just £2000 towards new signage.
Among the many projects envisaged by the grouping spanning all four quadrants of Cluny Square were: Centralising all the walks, a popular tourist attraction, along with new signage, in the square; Bricking up disused bus shelters on North High Street; erecting a number of new information boards and removing existing dilapidated ones; Instal benches and a modern picnic table with disabled access; A bike rack; A digital information board; Uplighters for the war memorial.
BDC chairman Kevin McKay, who has written a letter of complaint to Moray Council chief executive Roddy Burns regarding the funding decision and the way it was arrived at, also stated that the local authority had slapped a £100,000 price tag on the plans without seeing details of what was envisaged.
He told the Advertiser: "We were stunned when we heard the news we hadn't got any funding and the play park had been handed £45,000, an absolute bombshell.
"No one had ever mentioned at any community council meeting or town centre fund consultations that play equipment was required at the park. We have just recently seen two community groups instal new play equipment in their own areas.
"The whole process seems to us, to have been biased towards the Moray Council. Ian Johnson park is not in the town centre catchment area. How can replacing old equipment in a park possibly score more than a genuine town centre improvement plan? What makes it even more ludicrous is that the council have said they will not cut the grass there.
"There has been severe damage caused to the working relations with other groups in the town. We will continue to try and repair this damage. Unfortunately, some groups don't see the point. We built what we thought was a firm foundation for the future but sadly it seems all in vain as Moray Council has managed to undermine it.
"Group members have suggested we contact the Scottish Government for more clarity."
Buckie councillor and Conservative group leader Tim Eagle who, along with SNP council leader councillor Graham Leadbitter approved the allocation of the money, praised the vision of the groups involved.
He said: "I am delighted that Buckie is receiving over £220,000 from the town centre regeneration fund, which includes local businesses, property owners and a new playpark at Ian Johnson Park.
"Sadly, not everything could be funded and I tried to secure money for the application regarding the square in the town which had been submitted by the community council amongst others. The community council have a great vision for the square and I am keen to work with them to secure funding to do the upgrade work they would like."
Moray Council stated that they have still to receive cost details of plans by Buckie community groups to help revitalise the town centre.
A council spokeswoman said: "BCC [Buckie and District Community Council] provided a list of all areas that they would like to improve within the town centre, but it did not include any quotes or estimates of costs for the works/furniture etc.
"The costings that we used were indicative costs based upon work that we carried out as part of the Castle to Cathedral to Cashmere project in 2015-2017 and/or were provided to us during this time by suppliers when we were researching for the project. Increases had to be factored in to the 2015/2017 prices, too.
"We are closely monitoring project spend, to see if there is opportunity for further investment for proposals on a waiting list, which could be delivered within the Scottish Government’s deadline.
"We have requested that Buckie Community Council identify from their list of proposals their priorities, which could be completed before the end March 2020 deadline, should any underspend be available and/or any further funding be secured, and are awaiting this from them."
