Moray Council buildings could open their doors to people struggling with fuel poverty and the cost of living crisis this winter.
Members at a meeting unanimously agreed for officers to identify public buildings that can be used as warm spaces, and for the local authority to work with other organisations to help them do the same.
The proposal was put forward by Green councillor for Forres Draeyk van der Horn.
He said: “This is more than warm banks, its about something that’s going on in real people’s lives.
“In Moray 32% of people are living in fuel poverty and that’s higher then the Scottish average.
“As a rural community Moray is more exposed to fuel poverty and the cost of living crisis.
“Without preventative action people will die.”
SNP councillor for Forres Scott Lawrence seconded the move.
He said: “There’s a culture of denial around fuel poverty.
“It’s not just something that affects people on the edges of society.
“Almost half of all UK households face being pushed into fuel poverty by the beginning of next year.”
Warm welcome
Fochabers Lhanbryde SNP councillor Shona Morrison praised communities for their response during the pandemic. She said she was confident they would react in a similar way with action over warm spaces.
Her amendment that work should be done at pace was approved, as was the suggestion by Theresa Coull, SNP member for Keith and Cullen, to rename the initiative as ‘warm welcome’.
A household is defined as being in fuel poverty if it spends more than 10% of its income on fuel costs and there are insufficient funds left to maintain an adequate standard of living.
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