Harsh reality is that Girvan was voted the worst High Street in the UK

The good people of Girvan will not take kindly to their town being voted as having“the worst High Street in the UK”.

It’s a pretty harsh judgement. Local councillor Peter Henderson says the report takes“little account of geography, employment and demographics”.

Which is a bit strange considering the report was based on all of the above.

The sad truth is that South Ayrshire doesn’t exactly come out gleaming in many of these“national”comparisons.

Ayr has one of the most deprived areas in the country.

Drug abuse is among the highest in Scotland.

Several of our schools are at the wrong end of the education standards table.

And compared to dozens of beaches around our coast, Ayr’s South Beach is amongst the poorest for water quality.

I’m not even laying the blame for all of this at the feet of South Ayrshire Council.

There are historic reasons why we fare so badly in comparisons – with many agencies involved.

Equally, we can’t just rubbish every critical report.

A major property consultancy looked at the facts and figures behind 1000 High Streets – and Girvan sadly came last.

South Ayrshire Council’s response is “If the report author ever visited Girvan, they would find a bustling, coastal town”.

I’ve loved Girvan since I wore short trousers and rode the wee motor boats on the beach.

It’s gone through some lean times but as Councillor Fitzsimmons says“It’s really disheartening for all the work that goes on”.

Still, it’s not all bad news for Girvan folk.

They are in line to get a spanking new all weather football pitch – news that will delight almost a majority of them.

Coupled with the knowledge that local councillor Alex Clark is“fighting for his area”– things will get better soon!