THE launch of a £50 million fund to help boost town centres has been welcomed in Buckie. The Town Centre Fund is supporting councils to ensure their high streets are more diverse, sustainable and successful in the face of changing and evolving retail patterns. Moray’s share of the pot amounts to more than £1 million. Welcoming the funding allocation the SNP leader of Moray Council and economic development lead, Councillor Graham Leadbitter, said: “We want to ensure that communities across Moray have a say in what will work for them, which could be anything from environmental and streetscape improvements through to splitting up larger units into easier to let smaller units. “Our goal must be to revitalise and bring greater vibrancy to our town centres and make them even better places to live and work.” Buckie SNP Councillor Sonya Warren said the cash could provide a boost to attracting new businesses. “We’re lucky at the moment in Buckie to have so many independent local readers,” she said. “Hopefully we will manage to benefit from this funding announced by the Scottish Government to help attract other people or businesses to come to Buckie and add to the existing vibrancy of the town centre.. “We as a community need to do as much as possible to support our independent local shops who provide a fantastic service to the town and surrounding area while continuing to show great vibrancy and vitality.” Buckie Regeneration Group chairman Gordon McDonald called for collaborative working to maximise the impact of the cash. “I look forward to seeing the details on how this will be rolled out. The Buckie Regeneration Group, as always, are willing to work with anyone who will help revitalise the town centre. “I would hope this is something that the Moray Towns Partnership can participate and collaborate in.”