Residents to get vote on uses for £50k government windfall

Residents in Arbroath will be given the chance to vote for how a £50,000 government windfall is spent.

Arbroath Community Council will hold a voting day on Saturday, March 10, at St Andrew’s Church in the town between 11am and 7pm.

The voting day will decide what should be done with the £62,000 participatory budgeting grant awarded by the Scottish Government Communities Choices Fund.

In 2016 a workshop was carried out by representatives from the local authority, agencies, community groups, businesses and members of the public to suggest ways to improve Arbroath using an agreed action plan and framework.

Accessibility was identified as one of the areas needing improvement.

The community council successfully applied for financial help to assist with the accessibility issues and was awarded £62,000.

The first part of the project is £50,000 for members of the public to vote on projects for the town centre relating to accessibility projects.

Each person can vote on three options.

They include installing new fingerpost signs in Arbroath; creating a map and mini booklet for Arbroath; install new modern bins in Arbroath; and improve the signage for the high street walkway.

Install dropped down kerbs to improve accessibility; or create a large community noticeboard for Arbroath are also possible actions on offer.

The second part of the project is forming a panel or a mini public for £12,000 to learn and discuss how Angus Council sets its budget and how local people can influence it in future years.