Buckie Town Centre Improvement Plan

To improve Buckie Town Centre by making it a well-connected, inclusive, greener, attractive place that encourages people to visit and supports local businesses and facilities, and encourages healthier lifestyles.

• Explore opportunities to bring vacant and derelict buildings and sites back into use for residential and/or community uses by working collaboratively with landowners and other relevant parties;
• Encourage people to walk and cycle (active travel) by improving paths and roads to make them easier and safer to use for people of all abilities (inclusive);
• Improve the attractiveness of the streets and public spaces through enhancements to paving, street furniture, planting, etc. (the ‘public realm’);
• Improve signage and develop an interpretation trail that embraces Buckie’s unique heritage;
• Light up important and prominent buildings;
• Develop a shopfront improvement scheme to retain traditional facades and enhance the attractiveness of Buckie’s main thoroughfares (West and East Cathcart Street, North High Street) and Cluny Square;
• Explore the opportunity to make the town centre more inclusive and pedestrian friendly through a review of parking provision and disabled parking;
• Explore further opportunities for electric vehicle (EV) and bike charging points, cycle parking and storage; and,
• Support the refurbishment of public toilets that have been the subject of a Community Asset Transfer (CAT).

• Redevelop and/or refurbish vacant and derelict buildings and sites for residential and/or community uses;

The Council will work collaboratively with landowners and other relevant parties such as Registered Social Landlords (RSL’s) and constituted community bodies to explore opportunities to bring vacant and derelict buildings and sites that are in or in close proximity to the town centre back into use. This will help to encourage people to live in the town centre, support local businesses, and access community facilities.

Potential uses include residential (private and affordable) and/or community facilities as a recent review of the Buckie Central Locality Plan ‘A Better Buckie’ has identified the need for a community hub. The Council will work with the relevant constituted community body to identify a location for a potential hub and external sources of funding.

The old Lemonade Factory at Blairdaff Street and the old gasworks at Barron Street are two potential vacant/derelict buildings/sites suitable for redevelopment. The identification of other vacant/derelict buildings/sites and exploring potential opportunities with landowners to bring them back into use will be a continual piece of work for the Council.

(Site OPP2 Blairdaff Street – Moray Local Development Plan 2020)

The old Lemonade Factory is located in close proximity to the town centre, shops and a bus route and is suitable for residential purposes, particularly affordable housing and/or community uses. It is identified as an opportunity site within the Moray Local Development Plan 2020 (MLDP 2020), and therefore the principle of housing on this site is acceptable.

(Site OPP3 Barron Street – Moray Local Development Plan 2020)

This site has been vacant for some time given contamination issues with previous uses including a fuel tank, gas works and boatyard. This is an attractive site for residential, commercial or community uses given its close proximity to the town centre and harbour. The nearby commercial buildings, in particular the fish processing activities will need to be taken into account when redeveloping this site. It is identified as an opportunity site with the MLDP 2020.

• Develop the Active Travel Network and an Active Travel Masterplan for Buckie in consultation with the community;
• Provide new and improved cycle parking at key destinations within the town centre (see TC6); and,
• Undertake improvements to start/finish of the Speyside Way to create an attractive area that will encourage community activity and direct people to the town centre.

The Council’s Active Travel Strategy 2022-27 sets out a number of actions to encourage people to walk and cycle. These include further developing the Active Travel Network and developing Active Travel Masterplans for key settlements across Moray, including Buckie. The Council will continue to work with the community to deliver the strategy and secure external funding sources to implement.

Provision will be made to upgrade and add cycle storage and parking facilities in key locations in Buckie identified in consultation with the community. Further facilities for storing and charging electric bikes will be investigated subject to finding an operator.

The Speyside Way path is in close proximity to the town centre and is bordered by gardens. Due to the constraints of the path in terms of space, few improvements can be made the path itself. However, within the green space close to the start/stop of the Speyside Way there is an opportunity for planting, either shrubs or a community garden possibly with raised beds and food growing opportunities. This would create a community area within an existing empty green space. The work that has been undertaken at the start/finish of the Speyside Way by the community is welcomed. The Council will support further compatible proposals should these be forthcoming by community groups. This will be complemented by improved seating (see TC3) and signage (see TC4).

• Make the town centre more attractive and inclusive by upgrading and providing a cohesive approach to paving and street furniture, in particular the entrances to Cluny Square as this is a focal point for the town;
• ‘Greening’ streets and public spaces through additional landscaping and planting.

The public realm includes streets, squares, green/open spaces, etc. The public realm is an important element that ‘knits’ together the town and is fundamental in creating an attractive place where people want to visit and spend time, which in turn increases footfall for businesses and facilities. The Council will explore opportunities to enhance the public realm and potential funding opportunities to implement proposals.

Proposals that will be considered include Doric and memory walks (to be co-ordinated with signage and interpretation trails – see TC4 below), investigating food growing and allotment opportunities at East-West Cathcart Street, and public art (incorporating into paving and landscaping, wall art and murals, signage and street furniture, etc.). The Council will work with community groups to develop proposals and detailed plans will be publically consulted upon.

Cluny Square is the heart of Buckie’s Town Centre and start/finish of the Speyside Way and other local walks. The Square is a busy junction as it is the meeting point of East Church Street, West Church Street, High Street, and North High Street. The Square is split into four quadrants with three of these being used for car parking. The Buckie War Memorial, seating and planting is located within the fourth quadrant.

Given the importance of the Square as a focal point for Buckie, it is proposed to improve the entrances particularly at High Street (south entrance) as this is a busy and often congested area, especially outside the Post Office. The Council will explore opportunities to redesign this entrance through widening the pavement and using different types of paving to make it more attractive and easier to use for people of all abilities. Any future plans would be publically consulted upon.

Although the proposal seeks to improve the entrances to Cluny Square this would not hinder any potential enhancement projects for the quadrants coming forward in the future should there be a review of parking and disabled parking in the town centre.

It is proposed to complement these improvements by exploring opportunities to light up the War Memorial, improving signage and street furniture, enhancing the 2 old bus shelters through public art, and installing an interactive display board.

Soft landscaping such as shrubs, hedges and trees can enhance the attractiveness of the town centre as well as enhance biodiversity and contribute to carbon reduction. For example, hedging could be used to screen parking at Cluny Square reducing the dominant visual impact of parked cars, and planting at the start/finish of the Speyside Way will contribute to a more attractive environment.

• Work collaboratively with Visit Moray Speyside to review and rationalise street signage, and consider opportunities for digital (i.e. QR codes) signage including a digital notice board;
• Develop bespoke signage/street furniture and an interpretation trail based on local knowledge/heritage and Discover Moray's Great Places; and,
• Light up important and/or prominent buildings/spaces to showcase Buckie’s heritage.

Signage is an important element within a town centre as it helps visitors find their way around. It is important for promoting tourism and directing visitors to local attractions. However, too much is confusing, leads to clutter and detracts from the appearance of the town. The Council will work collaboratively with Visit Moray Speyside to review signage and explore opportunities to rationalise and incorporate digital wayfinding. Integrating ground level waymarking that ties in with a heritage or other trails will be investigated to help reduce the clutter of multiple signs. The review will focus on providing clearer directions to all of Buckie’s attractions and amenities. Bespoke signage and street furniture that embraces Buckie's heritage will be developed in consultation with the community. This builds on the success of Buckie's Darling.

Buckie has a unique heritage which an interpretation trail along with other public realm improvements (see TC3 above) would help to showcase, and attract visitors to the town. A significant amount of work was undertaken through the Discover Moray’s Great Places project and the Council is intending to develop this into a heritage trail that will cover the whole of Moray. This will provide a coordinated and consistent approach. There will be opportunities for local communities to feed in their local knowledge and work with the Council in developing these trails. Depending on the shape and form that these take, there may also be opportunities to develop complementary bespoke local heritage trails.

Lighting up buildings and important spaces can help showcase Buckie’s heritage and make places feel safer. For example this could take the form of individual buildings fronting onto Cluny Square, or the War Memorial. Lighting can also be used to guide people through the town by lighting up key routes. The Council will explore opportunities to light up key buildings and spaces in consultation with the landowners and the relevant parties.

• Develop a Design Guide and a Shopfront Improvement Scheme for premises on East and West Cathcart Street, North High Street and Cluny Square to enhance the visual appearance of Buckie’s traditional shopfront.

Shopfronts play an important role in the appearance of the town centre and coupled with improvements to the public realm will create an attractive place in which people want to spend time. This helps to support local businesses by making Buckie’s town centre an even more appealing visitor destination and boosting business confidence. The project involves developing a design guide for shopfront improvements and working collaboratively with Visit Moray Speyside to develop and implement a funding scheme, similar to those developed for Keith and Elgin through the Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS). The scheme would be applicable to premises located within the Core Retail Area (CRA) identified in the Moray Local Development Plan 2020 (LDP 2020) and cover the replacement of shopfronts and historical features.

• Explore opportunities to provide additional EV charging points to promote environmentally conscious travel and encourage healthier lifestyles.

The proposal aims to build on the carbon conscious and active travel provision within the town centre. The proposal will investigate the potential to increase the network of EV chargers within the town centre for use by residents and visitors in keeping with the Scottish Government’s new funding requirements and the Council’s future EV strategy. The facilities would be located in key destinations such as public car parks at Cluny Square and surrounding the town centre.

• Create attractive entrances to the town.

The entrances or gateways to a town are an important element in portraying a positive perception of a place and attracting visitors. There are two main entrances to Buckie that would benefit from enhancements – High Street (at the Tesco roundabout) and Barhill Road (existing roundabout). The Buckie Darling (Deer) adjacent the Tesco roundabout has been a welcome addition to the High Street entrance and work is currently being undertaken by the Council to light up this sculpture. Further enhancements to the roundabout such as soft landscaping will be investigated to add to the attractiveness of the High Street entrance to the town.

Similarly, the Barhill Road entrance is an unattractive mono-blocked roundabout. Development to the south will help to create a more attractive entrance along Barhill Road and reduce the impact of this roundabout as a key feature. Complementary enhancements such as soft landscaping on this roundabout will be investigated to further add to the attractiveness of this gateway.

• Support the refurbishment of public toilets that have been the subject of a Community Asset Transfer (CAT).

The Council will work with Visit Moray Speyside to support the refurbishment of public toilets that have been the subject of a CAT.