Moray councillors yesterday agreed to submit a funding application that would bring about the upgrade of one of the region’s most popular parks, despite concerns the plans were not innovative enough.
Cooper Park in Elgin has been pinpointed as having a pivotal role in a “cultural quarter” for the town as part of a £200million growth deal for the region.
An outdoor performance area, a revamped pond and bike hire facilities are just two of the proposals which would feature in the renovation if the local authority has success with its European Green Infrastructure Fund application.
It is administered by Scottish Natural Heritage and is only available for one project in the north and could receive £500,000.
However, there were discussions yesterday on whether some of the upgrades at the park were really needed after all.
Heldon and Laich councillor John Cowe believes that the proposals could be more “innovative.”
He said: “I question the redesign of the pond as I don’t see anything wrong with it.
“Plus the skate park and bike and provision for bike hire, we already have a skate park in Cooper Park and we can cycle all the way around it, we can cycle from Lhanbryde to the end of Elgin so it could be more innovative.
“There is nothing wrong with the pond, if they really wanted to do something with it they should have done it during the time of the flood scheme when it was empty.”
Moray Council’s principal officer for economic development, Reni Milburn, stressed that these upgrades would bring growth to the region.
She said: “As part of the stakeholder event, it was identified that the pond does not connect to freshwater, therefore you have got a lot of weeds growing there and it needs clearing out.
“Also in particular one of our partners Moray College is very keen to undertake some water sports on there and provide beginners training and so we are looking at costings to see what is actually feasible.”
Elgin City North Councillor Frank Brown fully supported the plan and said: “This is an admiral opportunity to look at the park and re-imagine it.
“We could make it much more diverse and green and allow it to become an economic development highlight so I support it.”