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Moray Council agrees to cut funding for projects including Cloddach Bridge





Councillors have agreed to slash planned spending plans on roads, education and leisure projects - including the Cloddach Bridge - in the face of budget pressures.

During yesterday’s full meeting of Moray Council, members unanimously backed plans to cut £7.6 million of funding from major capital project budgets this year.

Moray Councillors agreed the cuts plans…Picture: Daniel Forsyth.
Moray Councillors agreed the cuts plans…Picture: Daniel Forsyth.

Cuts to proposed capital budgets for the next three years were also agreed - across nearly all council services - including a 52 per cent cut in Roads, Bridges and Street Lighting.

Head of financial services Lorraine Paisey said officers had been drawing up the plans since last year after it was decided that the existing ten year capital plan would prove “unaffordable”, since more than 10 per cent of the budget would go towards servicing capital debt.

The question at the paper’s heart, she added, was “are we doing it, or are we not?”

Councillors agreed to cut funds for five named capital projects, including the entire £4.2 million projected budget for the Cloddach Bridge.

Also facing cuts are learning estate projects, leisure estate projects, works on Arthur’s Bridge near Lossiemouth and timber traffic projects.

On the Cloddach Bridge, which relies on £1.5 million of to-be-confirmed UK Government funding, the report said the lack of certainty meant the bridge funding could be deprioritised.

Over the next three years, projected funding for Learning Estate Projects totalling nearly £26 million will be cut - with £669,000 of this coming this year.

In years two and three, a further £25.3 million will be cut from the £34.3 million estimated budget.

Also impacted this year is funding for Leisure Estate Projects, which faces cuts of £1.9 million to the £5 million total budget.

Further cuts of £712,000 are expected in the two following years.

According to the report, cash has not yet been allocated for specific learning estate or leisure estate projects, with the allocation to be determined by the Education, Children’s and Leisure Services Committee.

In the proposed budgets for the next three years, £8 million is set to be cut from allocated cash for works on Arthur’s Bridge outside Lossiemouth.

This includes the entire £500,000 of funding allocated for this year, with the remainder cut across years two and three.

The report said: “Arthur's Bridge is recommended for deferral on the basis that further investigation is required to establish an accurate record of the bridges current condition.

“Subject to the results of the principal inspection it may be required to bring this forward or risk closure of the bridge for a brief period.”

Also scrapped were projected budgets for Timber Traffic improvement schemes, worth £250,000 in each of the next three years.

The report added: “The service has subsequently advised the projects envisaged are unlikely to meet the grant criteria in 2025/26 and consequently recommends this budget is withdrawn, contributing to the cap.”

Councillor Donald Gatt (Keith and Cullen, Conservative) said the report was vital evidence of the difficult situation faced by Moray Council.

He raised concerns over the significant project cuts to library and roads projects.

“The situation that we are in is not good,” he added.

Councillor Keith said the impacts of high maintenance and repair costs were due to the “make do and mend” policy which he argued was “handed down from a previous administration”.

“We have done a lot of make do and not a lot of mending,” he added.

Councillor Derek Ross (Speyside Glenlivet, Independent) said the lack of Scottish Government funding meant “our assets, and the value of our assets, are decreasing all the time”.

“I’m thoroughly sick of, every year, coming into this chamber and being faced with another round of cuts.

“And that’s what we’re facing this year yet again.

“It’s just like being on a hamster wheel.

“There seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel at the moment for local government in Scotland.”

The meeting saw several councillors criticised the level of funding that Moray Council receives from the Scottish Government.

However, SNP councillors emphasised that the allocation of funding for local councils is drawn up by COSLA, the body that represents Scottish Local Authorities.

Councillor Marc Macrae (Fochabers Lhanbryde, Conservative) said: “We’ve had some very interesting discussions indeed, particularly on the funding of local government as this things move forward.

“Maybe at a future date, this council can set out the value for money of being a member of COSLA.”



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