Girvan before the councils changed

Feb 13 2009

WHEN Girvan was run by its own town counci it was a thriving busy seaside town equal to any on the Ayrshire coast.

There were plenty of hotels and boarding houses to accommodate the influx of visitors.

Girvan had so many tourist facilities, it needed a full-time entertainments officer.

All the facilities made money, with the exception of the swimming pool which was subsidised by the other attractions.

Sadly, under Kyle and Carrick District Council and now South Ayrshire Council, our facilities have been systematically destroyed through mismanagement and a lack of basic maintenance.

First to go was the entertainments officer, then the popular Fifth Dimension, followed by beach huts, beach chairs, shelters, toilets and kiosks.

The Beach Pavilion was given a half-hearted make-over, which didn’t even include a sign letting visitors know what it was.

Like the swimming pool, the Beach Pavilion was closed ‘for safety reasons’. But the reality was it was losing money because it was being run incompetently.

I was a community councillor around the time the pavilion was closed, and at that time South Ayrshire was totally focused on a new seafront for Ayr.

They happily admitted Girvan would get nothing.

And the result is that towns Girvan could once rival have far outstripped us in gaining attractions.

Girvan Community Council, realising that South Ayrshire was unlikely to do anything for Girvan, tried to get something for the town under the umbrella of Girvan Community Developments Ltd.

Ultimately, GCDL failied to win the competition for lottery money for the Ailsa Craig Centre and ran out of funding.

GCDL could have been in a position to attract funding for projects such as the swimming pool. Unfortunately, South Ayrshire didn’t award promised resources to GCDL, and it had to close down.

The following week – surprise, surpirse – resources were allocated to an Ayr Renaissance group.

Closing our swimming pool might seem like the final straw, but our glorious council may not be finished yet.

Everyone fears the harbour toilets – among the busiest in Ayrshire – are next on the hit list.

These loos are actually crucial to the local economy, due to the thousands of people who stop in Girvan for a comfort break, then wander around the harbour and shops.

But the council has ‘previous’ on this, having already closed much-needed toilets in Straiton.

And what is our council doing now? Off to Dubai at our expense promoting tourism!

My own feeling about South Ayrshire Council is that Girvan has been continually and consistently discriminated against and this should be investigated by the Scottish Parliament or the Scottish Office.

Lawrie Richmond

14 Louisa Drive

Girvan