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Moray Council publishes festive period arrangements for bins, schools, sports facilities and more


By Jonathan Clark

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MORAY Council has published its service arrangements for the festive period.

Information on school closures, bins, car parks, recycling centres and sports facilities has been announced by the local authority.

All can be seen below.

Council offices

All of Moray Council's offices will be closed from Christmas Eve at 3pm until January 5 at 8.45am.

Emergency council services

Over the holiday period, the emergency out-of-hours service will operate as normal on 03457 565 656 for all council services, including matters of child protection.

You can make payments, report non-emergency faults and submit certain requests at www.moray.gov.uk.

Schools and education

All schools and council nurseries will close on December 23, and reopen on January 10.

Any queries during this time can be sent to education@moray.gov.uk.

Refuse and recycling

Moray bins
Moray bins

Green bins and recycling bins will continue to be collected three-weekly. However, there won’t be any collections on December 27 or January 3, with these to be rescheduled.

Collections may be carried out earlier than normal. Residents are asked to have all bins at their usual collection point by 7.30am.

Green bin and recycling bins due to be collected on December 27 in Kinloss and Findhorn will be collected on December 28.

In Elgin, bins will be collected on December 29, in Lhanbryde on December 30 and in Dufftown on December 31.

January 3 bin collection in the Clochan area will be pushed back to January 4, Lossiemouth to January 5 and Forres to January 7.

There will be no brown bin collections from December 26 until January 8.

Real Christmas trees can be presented alongside your brown bin from January 10, and will be uplifted regardless of whether you have a garden waste permit.

The special collection and waste hotline will be closed from 3pm o Christmas Eve until 9am on January 5.

Recycling centres

Recycling centres will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and December 27, as well as New Year's Day, January 2 and January 3.

Sports and leisure facilities

Any leisure facilities operating between Christmas and New Year will only be open between 10am and 2pm.

Buckie Swimming Pool and Fitness Centre; Forres Swimming Pool and Fitness Centre; Keith Sports and Community Centre; Lossiemouth Sports and Community Centre; Speyside Sports and Community Centre will be closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and from December 31 to January 2.

Forres swimming pool and fitness centre. ..Picture: Becky Saunderson..
Forres swimming pool and fitness centre. ..Picture: Becky Saunderson..

The same places will operate a holiday timetable on Christmas Eve, December 27, December 30 and January 3 and 4.

The normal timetable will resume on January 5 and swimming lessons will return on January 10.

Elgin Sports and Community Centre and Milne’s Fitness Suite, football pitches and pavilions will be closed from December 22 until January 5.

Forres Community Centre and Elgin High Sports Centre will close on Christmas Eve until January 5.

Libraries

All Moray libraries will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and December 27 and 28.

Libraries in Aberlour, Buckie, Elgin, Forres, Lossiemouth and Tomintoul will be open on December 29.

All libraries apart from Tomintoul will be open on December 30 and all will then remain closed until January 5, when normal service will resume.

The mobile library's normal routes will operate up to and including December 22.

The mobile library will be out of operation from December 23 until January 6.

A schedule of Mobile Library visits is available by calling Elgin Library on 01343 562600.

Car parks

St Giles and Batchen Lane multi-storey car parks will be closed from Friday, December 24, at 7pm until Sunday, December 26, at 9am and from Friday, December 31, at 7pm to Sunday, January 2, at 9am.

Alternative street level parking is available.

On December 27, December 28, December 31, January 3 and January 4 the multi-storey car parks will open from 9am until 7pm.

Mobile Covid-19 testing units

All mobile Covid-19 testing units will close on Christmas Eve and reopen on January 5, 2022.

Lateral Flow Tests should be ordered and collected in plenty time to cover the holiday period.

These can be ordered online for home delivery or collected from a mobile testing unit prior to Christmas Eve.

Registrars

Elgin's Registrars Office will be closed from Friday, December 24, at 3pm until Wednesday, December 29, at 9am, and from Thursday, December 30, at 4.30pm until Wednesday, January 5, at 9am.

The office is open strictly by appointment on December 29 and December 30.

Should a registrar require to be contacted urgently, call 07891 721414 or 07541 295181.

Public conveniences

All toilets will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and December 27, as well as New Year's Day, January 2 and January 3.

Scottish Welfare Fund

The Scottish Welfare Fund will close on Christmas Eve at 3pm until December 29.

A skeleton Crisis Grant service will be provided on December 29, December 30 and December 31.

Applications can be made online at www.moray.gov.uk/scottishwelfarefund or by telephoning 03457 565 656.

The service will close at 4pm on December 31 until January 5 at 8.45am.

Care at home service

Care at Home will operate on December 24 (8.45am-3pm); December 29 (8.45am–5pm); December 30 (8.45am-5pm) and December 31 (8.45am-5pm).

The service will return to normal on January 5.

Existing care at home users will be provided with their normal level of service on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and January 2.



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