Sunday Supplement
Our detailed look back on the stories that we have been talking about in Moray…..
Station Park after the continental fair (Derek Main/Facebook)
Looking around at the thousands of people lining the banks of the River Lossie last weekend set my mind off and running again on my favourite subject – promoting Moray.
It seems to me that we are finally wising up to the fact that we live in one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland. Throughout the year we have events going on around us that pull in visitors and locals in their thousands – the Lossiemouth raft race being one such example.
Add to that the region-wide and highly successful Spirit of Speyside and our hosting of the European Pipe Band Championship – yes, we have been moving in an upward direction in promoting the wonders of Moray.
So it was with abject horror that I received a wee note from a visiting family this week about overflowing bins, dirty street and beach areas, unruly seagulls and surly locals.
The respondent did not wish to be identified, she just wanted to ask my view on why we are not doing more to protect our environment.
She had been told by several people that the blame lay squarely on the shoulders of Moray Council and their cuts in services. She had also been told that it was much worse in other parts of the country so she should not really complain.
My own reply to her was that yes, we do have issues with litter, dog mess, seagulls – but we are tackling them in the best ways we know how, local communities throughout Moray have hard-working people who want to do that bit extra and are getting out there themselves to cover for any service shortfalls imposed by our local authority.
She accepted my comments and was happy to leave things at that – but then this weekend I saw an image on Facebook (above) that had me despairing again.
This was the mess left behind in Lossiemouth’s Station Park after a three-day ‘Continental Market’.
There is a bin under there of course – but it was not going to be able to take all the discarded rubbish – and you have to ask why anyone should simply think it OK to leave their rubbish in this way?
Dangerous to point fingers I know but it has to be said that visitors to our communities should take on board the fact that they too have a responsibility for our environment.