Flat bubbly and big portions of humble pie at this party
Administration’s first year in office
In this merry month of May 2018 – South Ayrshire’s current crop of councillors should have been celebrating their first birthday as the powerbrokers down at Castle Grayskull.
After 365 days in office, it ought to have been cake, candles, champagne – and a proud look back at a year of great achievements as the county’s ruling administration.
Instead - it was large portions of humble pie, flat bubbly . . . and the councillors couldn’t agree on who should blow out the candles.
Wherever this SNP/ Labour/ Independent pact thought they would be after Year One . . . this isn’t it.
The first anniversary edition of their favourite local paper said it all - “£ 30 Million Mess”, “tatters”, “shambles”, “humiliation”, “scandal” and “disgrace”.
Credit where it’s due – this administration did successfully avoid the “bloodbath budget” we were all predicting at the end of last year.
Yes - even if the amount of “blood” was furtively exaggerated.
But if asked what this coalition has really achieved so far - don’t bother putting your answers on the back of a postcard.
The back of a postage stamp will do!
After the riverside “carbuncle” mess of last week – there was almost universal agreement that the council needed to “get back to the drawing board”.
As they start the first days of their second year, someone in the council chamber needs to ask the question “How big should the drawing board be?”
And the answer?
The biggest drawing board in Ayrshire’s local government history!
A master plan, a grand design, call it what you like . . . but South Ayrshire needs a top- to- bottom strategy that will satisfy the current generation, build for the needs of the next generation . . . and lay a foundation for the generation after that.
Such a scheme would be a massive undertaking – a project that might take years to bring to fruition.
It would need an all- inclusive input – from community council to Parliamentary MP, from factory worker to industrial analyst, from single parent to educational planner, from hospital cleaner to Health Board chief executive.
Everyone would have their voice heard.
But its scope would be equally all encompassing.
Employment, education, housing and health care would obviously be priorities.
What jobs might be won – and lost – over the next five years?
How many schools will be needed in ten years? What is our housing planning strategy for the next 20 years?
And how many hospitals will we need in 30 years’ time?
How do we see Ayr Town centre looking in 2020 . . . and 2030?
And apply the same to Troon, Prestwick, Maybole and Girvan . . . then our small towns and villages.
From swimming pools to golf courses – from care homes to community hubs – from sea port to airport - the plan would boldly decide in which direction South Ayrshire should be going.
It would need the broad agreement of every political party.
And every successive local council would be charged with carrying the “grand plan” onto the next stage.
It would end up being a 1000 piece jigsaw that is carefully put together.
And while the riverside ‘ carbuncle’ was a huge local issue – it would just be a single piece of the giant puzzle ahead.
Either way, the days of piecemeal planning are over.
Is the Station Hotel staying or going? Is Burns House? What is the future of the County Buildings?
Is the Odeon closing to make way for a new cinema complex? Is a new council HQ still an option?
Are we getting the new swimming pool – or marina – as featured in the SNP’s local election manifesto?
There are too many questions that seem never to get answered.
In its first year, South Ayrshire Council has taken us on a magical mystery tour.
It’s time the people of South Ayrshire were told exactly where we’re going . . . and when we can expect to get there.
While the riverside ‘ carbuncle’ was a huge issue – it is a single piece of the giant puzzle ahead