Elgin South By-election: ‘I’m fed up of Moray Council making the news for the wrong reasons’
Voters in Elgin City South will go to the polls this Thursday to elect a new councillor.
One of the ward’s three seats became vacant in July when SNP councillor Graham Leadbitter was elected to Westminster as the MP for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey.
There are four candidates standing – Liberal Democrat Neil Alexander, Conservative Elaine Kirby, Catriona McBain for Labour and the SNP’s Laura Mitchell.
Here, in the first of four articles being published today, we speak to Neil Alexander, who is a games designer and lives and works in Elgin.
The Liberal Democrat candidate says: “I stood in the General Election earlier this year and we got our best result in the area since 2010.
“I’m a big believer in local politics and representing your area.
“Living in New Elgin, like many people I’m fed up of Moray Council making the news for the wrong reasons.
“I want to bring a new approach as a champion for local issues as a councillor.”
Mr Alexander is backing a bypass for the town and believes the whole A96 trunk road between Inverness and Aberdeen should be dualled.
He says: “It should have been built a generation ago.
“The congestion that we see in Elgin, before going onto some of the most dangerous sections of the A96, is shocking.
“Elgin is a key link between Aberdeen and Inverness, with key industries that depend on transport, so we need important safety improvements directly in Elgin now.
“Improving the safety of the A96 is vital. We all have at least heard a horror story of an accident on that road.
“And it impacts so much more, like access to healthcare where it’s been reported woman who move here with the RAF are considering putting off having a family for the fear of giving birth in a motorway layby.
“We need the dualling improvements urgently before more lives are needlessly lost.
“I’ve asked for answers from the Scottish government and been given none.”
Mr Alexander adds that, if elected, he would call demand an immediate progress update on the project, as well as invite the UK and Scottish governments to work with the council to dual the road.
Mr Alexander believes council cuts have been caused by the “historic mismanagement” of successive Conservative and SNP administrations.
He says: “The answer can’t just be to make local people in Moray pay more and get less in terms of services.
“We need to find new ways of raising revenue, such as the proposed Airbnb tax that could raise money by charging a tech super giant, instead of local people.
“Yet the council leadership have publicly said they will just follow a party line on that instead of doing the right thing.
“Instead of outright banning overnight parking in popular tourists sites, we could also be raising revenue by introducing overnight charges.
“It’s being pragmatic and innovative instead of tax more, get less.”
While backing cuts to services the public no longer need or want, Mr Alexander states he’s committed to protecting assistance for children with additional support needs.
He says: “We are hearing on the doors we knock that the level of staff support has already dropped due to the Conservative administrations review, and this needs to be reversed immediately.
“Children with additional support needs are among the most vulnerable in our society.
“So cuts to this and any to our children’s education are wrong. They show the human cost of the council administration’s brutal cutting agenda.”
Mr Alexander will push for more sonic devices to be installed to tackle Elgin’s urban gull issue to prevent “chaos” for residents.
He says: “Gulls aren’t naturally native to town centres, so we need to see more licences issued and action on this from the correct authorities immediately.
“We also need more of the sonic devices fitted around Elgin, not just within close proximity to the council building. This is what I will be pushing for right away.”
The vote will take place on Thursday, November 7, with the polls open from 7am to 10pm.
Results will be announced the next day following the count which will take place in Moray Council annex.
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