Have community voices been silenced in Moray?
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Elected councillors rather than the public will decide how a one-off sum of £120,000 is spent on local projects.
The eight council wards within Moray will each receive £15,000 as part of the local authority's 2023/24 budget.
Ideas for how that cash gets spent in the local area will have to be agreed upon by a majority of the three or four councillors who represent each ward.
This mirrors the way in which common good funds are approved for spending.
Some SNP councillors claimed this approach was "silencing community voices", but Bridget Mustard (Heldon and Laich, Conservative) gave it her support.
Cllr Mustard, who chairs the council’s corporate committee, said: "It’s widely accepted that local members have the knowledge and understanding of the priorities within their ward.
"To now have a dedicated pot of money to spend on that makes sense.
"It may be that options are identified in local planning exercises or other forms of community engagement.
"Maybe options are discussed in local groups like community councils, or directly raised with councillors.
"This means we’ll see the issues residents consider important addressed directly by elected members."
Cllr Shona Morrison, (Fochabers/Lhanbyde, SNP) set out an alternative proposal regarding the £120,000.
She wanted decisions taken by a participatory budget process involving communities across Moray,
However her motion was defeated following a vote.
Speaking afterwards, she said: "It’s unimaginable to me that councillors would not want to formally increase community involvement in decision making.
"Instead Tory, Labour and Independent councillors have voted for a paternalistic approach.
"This involves little oversight of how small groups – in most cases just three councillors – decide how to spend a significant amount of public money.
"It is not strategic or progressive and holds power at the centre rather than empowering communities."
Theresa Coull (Keith & Cullen, SNP) seconded the amendment.
She said: "I have concerns that the lack of scrutiny could open up councillors for criticism rather than being progressive and giving our communities much wider involvement in decisions."
