Embrace the new vision for Moray

MORAY HAS revealed an ambitious economic strategy which, if achieved in full over the next 10 years and beyond, is likely to cost in excess of £200 million.

In the current economic climate, many will baulk at such an aspirational blueprint. Others will applaud its forward-thinking.

The strategy is Moray’s response to the economic uncertainty created by the closure of RAF Kinloss and lingering threat to RAF Lossiemouth which, thankfully, has now been lifted.

The Moray Economic Strategy charts a way ahead for the region

A second document, ‘Elgin City for the Future’, spells out a new vision for Moray’s economic capital.

Sceptics will point to the previous Moray 2020 document, produced in response to previous RAF cuts a number of years ago, some of which was achieved, but much of it went unrealised. A Moray Lifesciences Centre was included in that document, and the £5 million project, which will go ahead, is also included in this refreshed document.

Moray is at a crossroads economically and socially, and everyone has a responsibility to embrace this new vision and take part in the comprehensive consultation programme soon to be embarked upon.

The detailed documents themselves are understood to have cost around £200,000 to produce.

It remains to be seen where the funding will come from for many of the projects, and that will ultimately determine its success.

But everybody has a part to play in shaping Moray’s future, and this is a platform to do just that.