Editorial: The wee things that make a difference but are too often ignored

Sunday Supplement
The editor voices his views on Moray’s most topical events of the past week…..

Was a bus stop really too much to ask for?

Quite often it is the smaller things that matter to the greater number of people.

That was brought home to me this week by two stories on insideMoray – a couple of stories that might not have made much of a splash in the printed press, but which for us are the very thing that we exist to report, news that matters to our communities.

The first was a bus stop in Burghead. Might not seem much, but it does seem a little strange to me that when planners built nice new housing off the Fraser Road, they might have taken account that people don’t always have cars or, indeed, wish to use them.

So you would have thought that they would have put a bus stop on the road – and, come to that, at least made it safe for people expecting to wait on a bus, rather than balance precariously on a narrow and sloping grass verge!

Then you have another busy crossing, this time in Lhanbryde, where parents are naturally concerned over their kids crossing on their way to school. Other, similar, roads in Moray – in particular in our main towns – have attendants, so why not in Lhanbryde?

The Council are undertaking a study into the problem but I have little doubt they will point to the 20mph limit at school times and traffic calming measures as being sufficient enough.

Doubtless people will support their view in that – but not those who are parents of young children, they know full well that traffic calming measures are not particularly understood by their children.  Moray Council certainly seem to understand that with several traffic light controlled crossings also manned by attendants.

And why should children pay attention to calming measures when adults driving through them don’t exactly show a good example by going too fast and ignoring warnings?

In the Burghead case the Council say that they will put a bus stop in place and perhaps even a concrete hard-standing, but they don’t have the cash for a shelter just yet. Really? When they are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on ‘consultation’ exercises they can’t spend the few thousand it would take for a bus shelter?

The smaller things matter – perhaps one day people in charge of the decision-making process in Moray will come to realise that.

Silver Sands on the up

Both holiday parks in Lossiemouth once drew thousands to the town each summer, most notably Silver Sands.

I remember spending many an enjoyable evening’s entertainment at Silver Sands – for many visitors to our part of the world this WAS Lossiemouth, they came year after year, boosting our local economy.

Some of course still do – but not so many. That is why it was great news not just for Lossiemouth but for all of Moray that the park does now appear to have turned the corner after years of bad management and downright dishonesty.

I wish the new owners well and congratulate the former owners for their work in restoring some of the good reputation once enjoyed by the park.

On the other hand, before announcing the sale to the press perhaps they should have remembered that there are a large number of hard-pressed caravan owners who have stuck with Silver Sands through thick and thin – and yet had to read about the new ownership on insideMoray rather than receiving a wee note in advance!

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