Brora in race against time for town centre funding
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Community leaders in Bora are racing against time to access £65,000 funding from the Scottish Government for a town centre project.
The community has to come up with a project that fits certain criteria and put in an application for funding by a tight deadline, and this is proving difficult.
East Sutherland and Edderton ward councillor Deirdre Mackay said: "It is use it or lose it. If Brora cannot use the £65,000 on offer, it will go to another community."
The Scottish Government's offer of funding for town centres came out of the blue, according to Cllr Mackay.
"It is one-off funding and we may not get it again," she said. "And the time-scale is really tight to get an application in. The clock is ticking."
The community is in the throes of producing a "Vision for Brora" and a survey of householders has already been carried out along with an analysis of responses. But the initiative has yet to be launched.
However, Cllr Mackay said survey respondents had identified a tidy-up of the village centre as a top priority. It was decided to put a bid in to the new fund to carry out this work, but officials said the scheme did not meet the criteria.
"The top priority for any project is to give people a reason to be in the town centre," she said.
Cllr Mackay called a meeting of local businesspeople last Wednesday at which several suggestions were made including providing waste disposal and other facilites for motor homes and camper vans in the lorry park at the centre of the village.
Cllr Mackay said: "This funding is really coming in too early for us but we are desperately trying to see if we can fit something into it and our consultants are working on it.
"It is frustrating but this happens - funding comes in out of the blue but you have to have a project on the shelf."
