Moray Council’s SNP opposition group has blasted its ruling members after a £390,000 scheme aimed at creating millions in investment for Forres was rejected.
The authority originally decided to abandon plans to regenerate the centre of the town when councillors agreed the budget earlier this year.
Members said the cash-strapped authority could not afford the £680,000 asking price attached to the five-year initiative.
However, Forres residents were offered some fresh hope when a scaled-down version of the proposal went before the full council yesterday.
A report prepared by officers said that the town’s High Street required significant spending to stave off decline.
But despite arguments that the council could expect to see its investment returned “several times” over, local authority leaders quashed any hopes that it could be revived.
Forres councillor Aaron McLean led calls for the scheme to be brought back to the drawing board.
But council convener Allan Wright advised councillor McLean that he would require a majority of two-thirds to progress his suggestion, because the original decision to scrap the scheme was made within six months.
Mr McLean was unable to secure sufficient backing, and Mr Wright’s motion that the council follow officers’ recommendations to reject the scheme was passed after being seconded by Forres councillor George Alexander.
After the meeting, Mr McLean said: “The procedures used by the convener were totally undemocratic and utterly farcical.
“We accepted that with budget pressures the original proposal would need pared back, yet my motion to approve that lower commitment was not even allowed to be considered.
“I cannot believe that two other Forres councillors would not support this investment in Forres, when economic development is supposedly the council’s number one priority.”
Mr Alexander said that the council, which needs to save £14million over the next two years, could not justify such expenditure.