Ironwork and roof removed from Elgin Cemetery pavilion

Moray Council says it does not have the cash to repair the fire-damaged pavilion at Elgin Cemetery.

Much of the pavilion's roof collapsed after the structure was targeted by vandals during the early hours of Sunday, November 26.

The local authority has now taken down what remained.

In addition it has acted to remove the ornate ironwork from the structure.

This, it says, will be kept in safekeeping until if and when the financial situation improves.

A Moray Council spokesperson said: "We’d been planning to repair the pavilion before it was set on fire. Repairs will now be more substantial and therefore potentially more costly.

"At the same time, our projected budget shortfall is around £15million over the next two years. Financing repairs to this building will not be possible in the current financial climate.

"The capital budget we do hold for cemeteries is prioritised for works that address health and safety concerns within a site, and there are no such concerns within this site because we’ve removed its fire-damaged roof and metal supports and ornate metal works.

"Those are in safe-keeping so that should funding become available in the future to reconstruct the building, we could try to use the metal as a template."

The pavilion stands in the old part of the cemetery and is just feet away from several graves.

Fire crews were at the scene for more than two hours and used hose jets to extinguish the blaze.

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