Aberdeenshire Council has been urged to put a “little bit more thought” into its plan to scrap gifts for residents marking special birthdays and wedding anniversaries.
Officers had drawn up plans to axe the celebratory gifts, which have cost the local authority around £3,000 annually over the last five years.
Councillors will visit constituents on their big day to present them with a bouquet of flowers and bottle of whisky.
Gifts are given to couples marking their 60th, 65th and 70th anniversaries, and individuals celebrating milestone 100th and 105th birthdays.
Meanwhile, the council also planned to stop handing out medals during citizenship ceremonies in a bid to save an extra £2,000.
Local authority bosses had drawn up plans to scrap the keepsakes due to “tight financial constraints on the council”.
The matter recently went before members of the business services committee for their views.
Councillors were assured that visits would still continue, but special events would only be recognised with a card.
Councillor Gwyneth Petrie said she wasn’t entirely opposed to the change, but suggested an alternative gift be given instead.
She was happy for the citizenship medals to be axed, stating: “I don’t think anyone knew that happened anyway.”
But, the Huntly councillor was glad with the decision to stop gifting alcohol.
The SNP member explained: “I disagree with giving whisky anyway for various reasons, particularly around some of our health factors and I don’t think it gives a particularly good look.”
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Ms Petrie also noted that flowers were expensive but suggested a small gift would be better than nothing.
“Going with just a card is difficult and if we were going to do that, our suggestion would be just to post it rather than have councillors travelling out with it,” she explained.
The councillor urged officers to have a “little bit more thought” around the matter after the budget is set next month.
Her view was backed by councillor Mark Findlater who fondly reminisced on his own visits to constituents over the years and noted that gifts had been “really well received”.
“We are in challenging times financially, but it is a relatively small amount so I agree there is maybe something we should do,” he added.
“It’s something we’ve been doing for a very long time so I’d hate to see it going altogether.”
Council leader councillor Gillian Owen agreed to take the talks “off table” and see what could be done in the future.