Public vote opens for Moray’s Coastal Community Fund
People across Moray are being invited to have their say on which community projects should receive a share of £100,000 from the Crown Estate funded Coastal Community Fund.
A total of 17 eligible projects are have now been entered into the public vote on Moray Engage, giving local people the chance to help decide where the funding should go.
The fund is now in its second year and supports projects with a clear connection to Moray’s coast or sea and within 12 nautical miles of Moray’s coastline. Last year, almost 9,000 votes were cast, with funding awarded to projects including accessibility improvements at Burghead beach, upgrades at the Scottish Dolphin Centre and improvements to community facilities in Spey Bay and Portknockie.
Voting opens on Friday 25 September and runs until 5pm on Friday 9 October. People can view all 17 projects and vote here.
Voters should choose their five favourite projects for their vote to count. Each person should vote only once. Duplicate votes and votes where five projects have not been selected will be removed before the final results are calculated.
There is no need to register for a Moray Engage account and voting is anonymous, making it as easy as possible for people across Moray to take part.
Asking everyone to choose five projects is intended to make sure the results reflect priorities across Moray’s communities rather than support being concentrated on individual local areas.
Once voting closes, funding will be awarded to projects in order of the number of votes received until the full £100,000 has been allocated. Partial funding may be offered to the final project if this would allow a complete part of the project to be delivered within the required timescale.
Chair of Moray Council’s Economic Development and Infrastructure Services Committee, Cllr Marc Macrae, said: “We had a fantastic response to the Coastal Community Fund last year, both from the groups putting forward projects and the thousands of people who took part in the public vote.
“I offer my congratulations to the 17 projects now available for people to choose from this year, and I’d encourage everyone to take a few minutes to look through them and vote for the five they would most like to see supported.
“This funding is about supporting projects that make a real difference to Moray’s coastal communities, so it’s important that local people have a direct say in where the money goes.”