Our priority is to get cemeteries fit for purpose
It’s only been one week since the Scottish Conservatives took control of South Ayrshire Council but we have already been hard at work getting to grips with local government. We have a top team of local councillors drawn from all walks of life and from every corner of South Ayrshire who are here to help. We want to be an open, transparent administration that listens and respects the needs of our communities. If you ever have any issues, large or small, please feel free to contact any of our councillors, or me for that matter, and we will do what we can to help. As you may have read last week, or in our manifesto, one of the top priorities for this new Scottish Conservative administration is scrapping the plans for a new leisure centre in Ayr and instead using the £50m earmarked for that project to invest in our communities. The old Citadel is a much-loved facility that, amongst other things, has the only major diving pool in the south west.
We’ve recently seen local divers like Duncan Scott, who trained at the pool, claim medals at the Tokyo Olympics and we want to preserve that facility for future generations. Costs for the new centre have spiralled in recent months while the new plans didn’t even include a diving pool making this an easy choice to make.
Rather than spend the money on a new pool we will put that money back into South Ayrshire communities. New promenades for Girvan and Troon, a park and ride at Monkton, sorting out the Station Hotel or the refurbishment of Burns Square are all on the agenda. £50 million is a transformative sum and that investment needs to be shared around, not focused on one project. Finally, many of you will have recently read about the situation at Ayr and Troon Cemeteries.
One of the first priorities of this new administration will be tackling the issues affecting the lairs and getting the cemeteries back into a state that’s fit for purpose.
I know this is a highly emotive issue that affects hundreds of families across South Ayrshire and I’m determined to see an improvement in the way the council interacts with them.
This is an issue that we have to get right and I will be working closely with council officers to ensure that is the case and that families wishes are heard and respected.