Moray Council spent more than £5,000 on a professional mediator to stage doomed peace talks between wildfowlers and environmental campaigners.
The local authority ploughed the taxpayer cash into an ill-fated attempt to resolve a dispute which has raged over shooting at Findhorn Bay for years.
But the council walked away from the negotiating table last month, and hunting lobbyist the Scottish Association for Country Sports (Sacs) described the mediator as “ineffectual”.
The organisation’s director, Alex Stoddart, said the council-appointed body “achieved little and failed to build trust”.
Figures obtained by the Press and Journal have now revealed that the struggling authority spent £5,013 on the endeavour, while public body Scottish National Heritage stumped up £3,900.
Forres councillor, George Alexander, was among those originally in favour of the move but last night conceded it was “not worth the money”.
He said: “Clearly, some people had no intention of coming to an agreement.
“We can’t continue to pour money into this situation if nothing changes.”
The debate around wildfowling at the spot began in 2016 when the Friends of Findhorn Bay group called for a ban on hunting there.
But shooters maintained that the practice was beneficial to the local economy, and part of the region’s heritage.
Various efforts to reach a compromise failed and a mediator was hired to oversee negotiations between the two sides last year.
The discussions collapsed in June, and Moray Council announced that it would step away from the process.
The information obtained by the P&J shows that the total of £8,913 was used to pay for six meetings between Catalyst Mediation, the Friends of Findhorn Bay and various shooting groups – including the Sacs.
Efforts to find a solution lasted from last October until June.
Friends of Findhorn Bay maintains that the shooting of animals like wild ducks, waders and geese goes against the spot’s status as a nature reserve.
But campaigner Danielle Quist remains hopeful that a solution could be found, and that the public money spent will not prove to be a waste.
She said: “This is a problem is not going to go away.”
Mr Stoddart was also hopeful representatives would discuss matters more.
He said: “We would support the continuation of background talks to help find an acceptable solution for all the diverse communities who value the beauty and natural heritage of Findhorn Bay.”
Moray Council leader, Graham Leadbitter, added: “We have invested thousands of pounds in this process to date, but as this latest attempt has been unsuccessful we were faced with no other financially-viable alternative.”
Gavin Clark, Scottish Natural Heritage operations manager, insisted that “significant progress” was made during the process.
Catalyst Mediation did not respond to a request for comment.
