Elgin registry office to move into Moray Council HQ
Couples will be able to tie the knot in council headquarters after the town’s registry office closes.
Moray Council says it is planning to move registry staff to the opposite end of Elgin High Street so they can be closer to their colleagues in the main building.
However, Alastair Kennedy, the chairman of Elgin Community Council, called the move a “retrograde step”.
At the moment the Registrar for Births, Deaths and Marriages is based in Elgin at the corner of High Street and Northfield Terrace, close to the roundabout on the A96.
The wedding room in the office has seen better days, and brides, grooms and their guests have to leave the building by the back door, which leads them into the Northfield Terrace car park.
A date has not been set yet, but the move is expected to take place after the summer.
It is not known what will happen to the building when staff move out.
A council spokesperson said: “The rationale is primarily to co-locate staff with their colleagues to help with lines of communication.
“Since Covid we’ve operated an appointments system rather than a walk-in system at the registrars and the new arrangements will be similar with details to be confirmed.
“We’ll have a marriage room in HQ, but we’ll have a transitional arrangement where staff will continue to use the existing room so people know what they are getting.”
Mr Kennedy said: “I think it’s a shocking move and a retrograde step.
“It’s supposed to be a public-facing agency. Why would you move it into council HQ when nobody can get into the building?
“I think it’ll put people off. And I don’t think folk see the registrars as part of the council.”
A total of 109 weddings were held in the registry office between April 2023 and this March, a rise from 72 the previous year.
