Make Elgin a city Ma'am

A document showcasing the unique culture, heritage and identity of Elgin has been submitted in the hope it will secure city status for the town.

Moray Council has sent the bid to the Cabinet Office today – hours before the 4pm deadline for a civic honours competition which is being run to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee next year.

Elgin Community Council has spearheaded the campaign to get city status and has gathered much of the information which has been used in the application

Alastair Kennedy, the group's chairman, is thanking all the organisations and individuals who have backed the bid.

He said: "My colleagues in the community council have put a lot of hard work into giving this bid the best chance of success, but we couldn’t have done that without the enthusiasm and support from the communities across Elgin and Moray.

"We’ve had offers of help from the Lord Lieutenant of Moray, Elgin Museum, where two ladies have gone to great lengths to help, and Elgin Town Hall for the community to name a few, and we’ve got a letter of support from the Earl of Elgin.

"We’ve also had assistance from an officer from Moray Council who was crucial to collating the vast amount of information that had been gleaned."

Moray Council unanimously backed the move to apply for city status at a meeting back in October.

If successful, it's said the bid will bring financial benefit not just to Elgin, but to the whole area.

Graham Leadbitter, the leader of Moray Council, said: "Many discussions have taken place to put together the story of Elgin – our history, famous sons and daughters, sporting and leisure life, our industries, education, health and much more.

"Elgin’s story is rich, compelling and stretches back nearly a thousand years.

"City status would be thoroughly deserved."

Previously bids were sought for the monarch’s golden jubilee in 2002 and diamond anniversary in 2012, which proved successful for Stirling and Perth respectively.

Inverness became a city in a similar contest in 2000.

Included in this fresh bid are numerous photographs of Elgin landmarks along with a map showing parks, tourist attractions, leisure and entertainment venues as well as the main tourist routes.

There is also information about Elgin's sport centres and shopping areas.

The Cabinet Office will put forward recommendations to the Queen who will make a final decision next year.

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