Community votes to award Friends of Blairs Loch £3500 to improve paths around beauty spot
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THE public voted to award a group of volunteers rejuvenating a beauty spot more than £3000 to make it more accessible.
Friends of Blairs Loch (FoBL) will use the £3500 from the participatory budgeting scheme funding processed by Money For Moray towards improving paths around the site, allowing accessibility for disabled and wheelchair/pushchair users.
Trustee treasurer Brian Higgs and his fellow volunteers are delighted with the support.
He said: “We continue to receive fantastic support from the community and this is another example of them getting behind us.”
FoBL is a charity creating a place for recreation and education. Formed in 2017, FoBL aim to reopen the water for trout fishing. They are also extending the footpath network, and have refurbished the boat house and adjacent buildings as a field study facility.
The paths network is currently plagued with tree roots and old stumps.
Brian said: “Our ambition is to open up as much of the loch as possible to as many members of the community as possible. The grant will be used to purchase a stump grinder to help us remove the hazards and start path improvement. This will take a number of years, and lots of volunteer effort, to complete.”
He added: “Work also continues on removing the excess aquatic weed that has congested the loch for many years. We hope to be able to re-stock with trout some time in late summer/autumn.”
