I’ll fight to stop beloved place being abandoned
Rankinston is not an abandoned village, insists Councillor John Bell.
“I’ll fight for Rankinston as long as I’m on the council,” he said.
“the people up there are some of the most genuine I’ve ever met, and I will do anything I can to help,” added the Doon Valley sNP councillor.
“East Ayrshire Council has spent a lot of money modernising the school and the houses.
“they didn’t do that just to knock them down.”
John pointed out: “I spoke to a couple up there who had been paying £ 95 for electricity.
“But now in their modernised house, it’s less than £ 35.
“they told me it was like moving into a new home.”
John admits he is concerned about the recent loss of the doctors’ surgery.
But he is hopeful about a plan that would allow Rankinston folk to talk to a doctor via a video screen in the community centre.
He said: “the community applied for a grant to assist in broadband costs over the next three years.
“this could help set up a doctor video call scheme in the community centre.”
John admits that derelict buildings are blighting the village.
But he is hopeful there will be opportunities for new development.