Kilbirnie
Community Web
|
Kilbirnie
Community Web |
|
|
Please forward any news items to editorial@kilbirnie.uk.net to be loaded on the site.
Pregnant mums take to the pool Kilbirnie Main street resurfacing. carriageway resurfacing and lighting work, which will require a road closure on B780 Main Street, Kilbirnie on Sunday 22/01/12 and from Sunday 29/01/2011 until Sunday 5/02/2011 or the duration of the works. A diversion route will be in place as the works, part of the town centre regeneration work by the council, take place. 7/1/12
MEN'S NIGHT - Can't Cook Won't Cook Theme - Wednesday 8th February 2012 -
7.30pm-9pm. North Ayrshire Council has developed an ambitious £21m flood management scheme for the Garnock Valley. The project would build upon the existing flood defences in Kilbirnie, Glengarnock and Dalry and provide protection for almost 380 properties that face serious risk of flooding. The Council’s Executive considered a range of options but chose the most comprehensive approach. Councillors agreed to officers’ recommendation to submit the £21m full flood management scheme to the Scottish Government, seeking a share of an expected £73m funding scheme for national flood mitigation. The timeline for consideration of the Strategy by the Scottish Government has yet to be announced. The strategy agreed by the Executive calls on the Council to consider full or partial implementation of the scheme dependent on the level of funding the Council receives from the Scottish Government. Work will now commence to develop the design of the flood scheme. At the executive meeting Cllr John Bell emphasised the importance of the council taking the plan to Flood Prevention Order without delay. 8/12/11 A Christmas Open Day will be held on Saturday 10th December 2011 from 10am-2pm with lots of fun for all ages. There will be soup, mince pies, Xbox, cupcake decorating, crafts, carol singers and more! All are invited to Kilbirnie Gospel Hall, School Wynd (next to the police station).
Scottish Government Flood Prevention. In its recent draft spending proposals for 2012-13 the Scottish government has hinted it may use £42million per annum to finance strategic capital projects. Councillor John Bell commented that "this may open the door for the council to obtain the necessary government finance to take forward its Garnock flood prevention scheme. 11/11/11
Kilbirnie Town Centre regeneration update. North Ayrshire Council's Executive allocated funding for town centre regeneration in its budgets for 2010,2011 and 2012. Over £200000 will be spent on improvement and regeneration projects in Kilbirnie town centre and the project will then focus on Beith and Largs in 2012. Works so far have included a Shopfront Grant scheme to allow local shops to improve their visual impact. The Newton St. Carpark extension: adding the area formerly Tampson's pub and improving the layout. Former police station. The temporary carpark on the site of the Police station is in use and has also been used for the mobile football pitch over the summer as well, as part of a joint project with the police to create opportunities for young people. Around the Cross area. The proposal is to extend the completed streetscaping at Bridge St. onto the junction of the Cross and Main Street past the telephone box. On the other side of the road the area in front of the Knox Insitute and Jessalina’s will resurfaced in a similar fashion Planters are to be installed at Bridge St. and around the Newton St. Carpark Main St. : The Puffin Crossing/ Street Lighting/ Decorative Lighting Infrastructure are now being incorporated into the Roads and Infrastructure Main St. re-surfacing programme. This next phase of works is now planned to start in the middle of January. 1/9/11
Kilbirnie Citizens Advice Service saved. The groups board have agreed that all offices will remain open until at least 31st March 2012. The organisation had earlier planned to close the Kilbirnie ie office at the end of July but reconsidered following pressure from local councillors.1/9/11
CAB office under threat. NACAS have announced the planned closure of Kilbirnie office siting at the end of July. Volunteers have contacted local councillors who have backed their campaign to preserve this service for the Garnock Valley. 21/7/11
Garnock site challenged by SNP. SNP councillors Alan Hill (Largs) and William Gibson (Saltcoats) along with Dalry independent councillor Robert Barr have stopped progress on the new Garnock scheme asking for further information on the site selection process. These members consider the Longbar sites better placed for a community facility. At a meeting of the councils Scrutiny Community local councillor John Bell defended the change of preferred site to Stoneyholm Road based on the outcome of the community consultation. Local SNP Councillor Anthea Dickson was unable to take part in the meeting as she has a significant property interest near the Lochshore site. committee report 16/6/11
New Garnock Academy site to be Stoneyholm Road. Following their consultation process North Ayrshire Council have now identified the site at North Lochshore as their preferred site for the project. at the consultation meetings concerns were raised about the accessibility of the previously preferred sites at Longbar. 19-5-11
Town Centre Regeneration Update Following the consultation meetings in the Walker Hall with the input of local councillors plans are underway to improve the Town Centre area, with money allocated through councils budget. Plans include:- Newton St. Car park The existing car park will be resurfaced, negotiations to purchase the land on the gap site adjacent to the car park are underway and once this is completed the work to extend the car park over the former Tamsons Pub will be carried out. Bridge St. Plans for the footpath and parking area improvements (adjacent to the Bowery Pub) . Puffin Crossing Main St. Adding traffic control to the existing zebra crossing Jesalina/ VeeBee Sugar Arts The paved area in front of the above is currently being designed (similar to the area at Bridge St.) There will be a longer delay to starting this work as it is designated a traffic sensitive area and requires a minimum 6 week Traffic Order before work can be started. Police Station Site Demolition will start week beginning 6th March. We are working with partners (Police, Legal, Roads and Planning) to find a temporary use for the location. The most realistic usage is a temporary car park. Building Wrap 2 Main St. A temporary fabric wrap will be placed over the building Street Lighting Street Lighting Section are currently costing a programme to replace the existing lamp standards with wall mounted street lighting. Shopfront Grant Scheme 9 shops are currently proceeding with the scheme. . Munro Architect will project manage the work and most are expected to be completed by the end of March.
Flood Prevention meeting;The
Council's Garnock Valley and West Kilbride Area Committee requested a public
meeting be arranged in relation to flood mitigation measures in the River
Garnock catchment. This has been organised for 7.15 p.m. on Tuesday 1st March
2011 in the Walker Hall, Kilbirnie. Garnock, Moorpark and Glengarnock consultation begins. Consultation documents have been issued this week to parents and carers of children who attend the three schools who would be affected by the proposal. online consultation document11/1/11
Congratulations to the residents of Innerleithen in the Borders
have campaigned for years to get faster internet connections. Innerleithen has
been named as one of six areas winning a competition to be next in line for a
technonoly upgrade for speeds of up to 40Mb.More than 360,000 votes were cast
across the UK during a three-month survey for BT's Race to Infinity campaign,
with Innerleithen hitting near 100 per cent approval from residents. Ross
McGinn, chairman of the Innerleithen, Traquair and Glen Community Council,
said they bombarded neighbours to make sure everyone voted. Unfortunately a
similar campaign for Kilbirnie was not similarly supported by local community.
Vote for Kilbirnie to get High Speed Broadband here http://www.racetoinfinity.bt.com/home Our Successful campaign back in 2002 made sure we got broadband then lets do it again. Recycling centre reopens. Thursday 23rd December 2010. The site will operate normal working hours (9am - 4.45pm) with the exception of; 25th and 26th December 2010- and 1st and 2nd January 2011 when it will be closed. 22/12/10
Kilbirnie facilities under threat as budgets cut. With the council facing the possibility of having to close all local halls and facilities over the next three years, unless the budget position improves, they have brought forward proposals on how to manage the process. NAFCA a federation of local community associations has listed a number of facilities it is interested in maintaining and running by forming a Community Trust which includes Bridgend Community Centre but they are not interested in either the Walker Hall or Longbar Community Centres. 15/12/10 Kilbirnie Town Centre Regeneration, Two consultation events will take place at the end of November to discuss ideas for improving the town centre. To allow everyone to have their say one event will be for representatives local groups and businesses and the second for the general public. Local councillor John bell said "This is an opportunity for local people to help influence spending the money made available to improve the Kilbirnie town centre, some good suggestions have already been made, which along with grant aid to local shops through shopfront improvement scheme, should make further significant improvements to the town centre." The events are being held at Walker Hall, Kilbirnie on Wednesday, November 24 from 11.00am to 7.00pm They will be hosted by Vector Research who are conducting the resident and business research within the town. 7/11/2010 Garnock Academy, The council have narrowed the site selection down to four possible sites. One site is across School Road from the current school Campus, the second is at the North of the Lochshore site across the cycle track from the Amenity site, the third is near the Garnock Rugby pitches at the south of the Lochshore site, and the final site is between Longbar and the Railway line. 7/11/2010 Kilbirnie Police Station Officially opened at its new site. Strathclyde Chief Constable Stephen House and Police Board Chair Councillor Stephen Curran officially opened the station at the new site at the former Garnock Valley Registrars office. Other guests included local Councillors John Bell, Anthea Dickson and Jean Highgate as well as former Councillor James Jennings who had performed the official opening of the previous station in 1974. 4/11/2010. As part of the Kilbirnie Town Centre regeneration scheme Munro Architects, Kilmarnock, have been appointed as architects for the Shop Front Grant Scheme which will launch shortly in Kilbirnie. A drop-in session has been arranged on Wednesday 15th September 2010 at the Walker Hall in Kilbirnie from 12pm to 3pm Project Officers and the architect will be there to answer any questions that the business owners may have. 6/9/10 Digital Switchover Drop-in Clinic Walker Hall 13/9/10 10 till 12. Digital Switchover Drop-in Clinics provide information about the process of the digital TV switchover and its implications for households. It will highlight the support available from the Digital Switchover Help Scheme and consumer protection issues which all viewers should be aware of. 4/9/10 Kilbirnie Flower Show Bridgend Community centre Saturday 4/9/10 More details if we get them. Kilbirnie Regeneration Work. North Ayrshire Council's Executive committee agreed to focus regeneration funding on Kilbirnie at their meeting on 10th August. They will commission detailed research into town centre performance, function and future opportunities, similar to that carried out in Dalry. Detailed consultations will take place with Kilbirnie shoppers, residents, traders and stakeholders to identify their priorities and to guide the activity in subsequent years. Consultations will also be held with other NAC departments in terms of providing a contextual background. The Shop Front Grant Scheme will be launched in Kilbirnie in a designated locality Main Street/Bridge Street. Following the outcome of the research, capital projects will be identified and progressed. The 2010-12 programme will move on to address all appropriate elements of the Town Centre Regeneration Framework including: training, marketing, physical environmental improvements, business group set-up and other projects as deemed appropriate following consultation.22/8/10
Allotment Awards It has been a great week for the green-fingered volunteers of Garnock Valley Allotment Association. Not only have members of GVAA been granted planning permission to create more than 70 community vegetable plots, they have also received an award for their hard work. Members of the group, who have spent months raising money and trying to secure a site for the allotments, were delighted when North Ayrshire Council's Planning Committee last week granted permission for 73 individual allotment plots in Kilbirnie. Now the volunteers, who have been working in the background to develop the skills they need to run the association successfully, have picked up a Scottish Learning Partnership Award for Health at Adult Learners' Week. The group collected their framed certificate and a gift of gardening equipment at the awards ceremony held at The Crichton in Dumfries on Thursday, May 20. The award was for the work the group makes towards improving opportunities for mental health, physical activity and well being of members. 30/5/10
Kilbirnie & Glengarnock Civic Week. 20th - 26th June More details as we get them. 15/5/10
Katy Clark – Scottish Labour Party: 21860 , Gillian Cole-Hamilton - Scottish Liberal Democrats: 4630 Patricia Gibson - Scottish National Party (SNP): 11965 Philip Lardner - Scottish Conservatives & Unionist: 7212 Louise McDaid - Socialist Labour Party: 449 Google Maps -We know where you live. The latest upgrades to Google's street maps now include images of most of Kilbirnie, though they still haven't fixed all the problems they had with street names from other areas being used by mistake.11/3/10 Garnock Academy Council committee to look at the options of including a leisure centre in the replacement school. Other options might include a new primary school on the same site. 5/3/10 Jennings gardens - first residents move into affordable housing created by partnership between, Cunninghame Housing Association, the Scottish Executive and North Ayrshire council. 15/2/10 Walker Hall Safe for now. NAC agreed their budgets for 2010-11 on Thursday 11th Feb. One of the proposed savings would have included the closure of some of the area's halls and libraries, this option was not taken at this time but will be the subject of ongoing scrutiny as the cuts imposed on the council continue to bite.13/2/2010 Labour Clubs change name. At a meeting of all club members of the Labour Party it was agreed to separate the formal link between club and party membership. The clubs have been operating under difficult trading conditions for the last 3 years and it is hoped that the reduced membership fee will encourage more people to use the clubs. The clubs have been successful fund raisers for countless community and charitable organisations over the last 40 years and, with the aim of preserving these assets for the community, the Labour Party membership agreed to the change to the Garnock Community Club. 31/01/10 CCTV Cameras for Main Street in Kilbirnie. Chairwoman of North Ayrshire CCTV Limited, Councillor Margaret McDougall said: “CCTV cameras are perceived as playing an important role in preventing crime and providing reassurance to the public that our town centres are safe places to frequent.” The cost of the cameras, which will be monitored round-the-clock, is £250,000 and they should be in place the end of March. Strathclyde Police Superintendent Jim Coubrough, Sub-Divisional Officer for North Ayrshire, said: “In towns like Kilwinning and Saltcoats, CCTV has been shown to be an effective resource in both tracking and deterring criminals in North Ayrshire. “I expect the law-abiding majority will welcome this development.” One of the cameras will be placed near Benny's Chip shop and the other on the cross opposite Radio City. Newspaper claims Kilbirnie has Britain lowest life expectancy. An article in the Mail on Sunday made the claims this week. Pensions-A-postcode-lottery.html . Commenting local councillor John Bell said "Kilbirnie's Industrial past has left many long term health issues in the area, and was one of the reasons for setting up the Healthy Living Centre at Radio City which has made significant improvements in Health Promotion in the area. I have been advised that based on the 2008 health profiles Kilbirnie is not now in the lowest in North Ayrshire with an average life expectancy of 73. While we need to maintain this commitment to health improvement the figures quoted in the newspaper don't seem accurate." A copy of the 2008 NHS North Ayrshire profile can be found here. NHSNorthayrshirelife 1/12/2009 Flood Defences- Council demand Government
funding. NAC Council Leader David O’Neill said “The
previous Scottish Executive scheme funded 80% of capital flood defence works and
the SNP Scottish Government is not making clear how they are going to fund major
projects. We need to implement a Garnock flood prevention scheme, currently
estimated to cost around £20million, and need a funding commitment from the SNP
Government. to ensure we get the best possible flood prevention scheme in place
for the
Takeaway at Dunnings? Local residents are concerned about a planning application to change part of Dunnings shop into a hot food takeaway and there have been a large number of objections. Local councillors have requested that the issue be called in to the councils planning committee should planning officers look favourably on the plan. NAC Planning 3/11/09 Tesco have lodged a planning application to extend the garage opening hours to 24 hours and to allow them to have deliveries to the shop between 5am and midnight. The original application limited the operating and service times of the site to between 7.00 and 23.00 in order minimise noise nuisance to local residents. 30/10/09 2009 Christmas Festival Program announced. The Christmas Festival is on the Saturday 28 th of November. Santa will be in the Library from10am and Santa’s Parade leaves from the Library at 5pm. There are craft & various organisations with stalls in the Walker Hall, Radio City and The Community Centre and they will all be open to the public from 2pm.The Starlight Road Show will be in the street at the usual spot outside the opticians. We have the junior choir and band from the Academy and we also have the Moorpark Primary School choir singing. We are still finalising with the other schools what they will be doing. Main Street car park will have a small fair and stalls for the younger children to take part in. Pre Booking for Santa is again possible and people can collect a form from the Library.22/10/09 New Garnock Academy.
Coal Plant Protest Meeting I am sending this email to you as you and your readers may be unaware of the potential and “likely” threat of a new coal fired plant at Hunterston. The proposal for this monster is being pushed through the back door by SNP, and Alex Salmond. The public were never consulted on this and the National planning framework was never undertaken, the planning was “added on” mysteriously!!! It appeared 8 months AFTER the framework had closed! The threat to the public in Kilbirnie and Dalry is from the smoke and ash from the spent coal, as the chimney will be built higher than Fairlie Moor, and the prevailing winds are dominant in your direction. There is an open day in West Kilbride on Friday 2nd Oct at the Village Hall, and also at the Brisbane Centre in Largs on Sat 3rd. Fairlie village hall on Monday 5th, and Millport Town Hall all 11.00am till 7pm. Marie Hosie 28/09/2009 Local councillors question Scottish Enterprise on Lochshore delays. At the recent meeting of the Ganock Valley area committee a representative of Scottish Enterprise outlined the cause of delays in progressing the Lochshore Masterplan. He explained restructuring of the organisation meant some confusion on who would take the project forward as it was not seen as of national significance, but that SE decided to keep responsibility as they were they major land owner. The downturn in the economy had also meant a reduction in private sector interest but that they felt the market was likely to improve in the next few years. Accordingly SE plan to appoint a design team to take things through the formal planning system. The committee also heard reports on the local provision of sport and cultural activities in the area. 21/08/09 George Steven Centre in Craigton Road, Kilbirnie will begin refurbishment work next week on their ‘Centre for Adults with Learning Disabilities’. Work will begin at the site on Monday 17th August, to add an extension to the kitchen area and create two new activity rooms for service users. The contractor is Fleming Buildings Ltd who originally built the centre in 2003; the building works are anticipated to be complete by early November. Mrs Teri McKeand, George Steven Centre Manager said, “This is an exciting time for the centre; it will be business as usual for us during the refurbishment. The centre programme will run as normal, this will include our community café, although parking will be greatly restricted. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our neighbours and the local community for their continued support and encouragement as we may have to experience a little upheaval during the refurbishment project.” 12/8/09 Garnock Valley misses out in Scottish Government Regeneration Funding. The only successful projects from North Ayrshire were in Ardossan, Saltcoats and Millport. It is hoped that the proposal to clear the site of the flood damaged Police station in Kilbirnie, to be used as additional car parking, will be successful in the last round. 7/8/2009 Roadworks
The following much needed works are planned for Kilbirnie B777 Kirkland Road
: commencing 6th July for approximately 8 working days (weekdays only). Working
Hours will be 9.15am until 6.00pm. New Garnock Academy? North Ayrshire Council leader David O’Neil is to write to Education Minister Fiona Hyslop in a bid to secure a share of the £800 million of government money earmarked for new school build programmes. Local Kilbirnie & Beith Councillor John Bell who chairs the councils Education Executive said "Now that we finally see an opportunity to continue our investment in schools we need to lobby the Scottish government to try and get our share of the funding. Recent government spending has been skewed to the SNP heartlands in the North East and we have lost out on roads and housing money". He added "Garnock Academy is one of the schools likely to be replaced if the council can secure the funding this time." 25/06/09 Police Concerns. Police Superintendant Stephen McGrath and Inspector Bob Campbell were quizzed by councillors at a meeting of the Garnock Valley area Committee. The superintendant explained the current system and listened to complaints regarding response times. A report was presented detailing calls and staffing. The members agreed to take up the issue with the councils Police Board members. 18/6/09 Regeneration scheme snag. Following negotiations with Strathclyde Police Board the council were unable to bid for the Police station in the first round of regeneration funding but expect to get agreement to put it forward for the August round. A scheme to install 2 CCTV camera in the Town centre did go forward to the Scottish government for funding. 5/6/2009 Town centre Regeneration. North Ayrshire Council ruling executive committee are to decide which projects go forward as bids to the Scottish Governments Town Centre Regeneration Fund. Possible projects for Kilbirnie include clearing the former Police station and redeveloping as car parking, clearing the site of the former Tamsons pub as a car park extension, the compulsory purchase of the fire damaged insurance office at 2 Main street, and the redevelopment of the Knox Institute building as community space. 28/5/2009 No Flood Prevention money for Kilbirnie. The Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Bill has been passed in Scottish Parliament. unfortunately there is still no money identified to fund further flood prevention works. A scheme for Kilbirnie Beith and Dalry is identified by the Scottish government as being at the feasibility stage in the Scottish Flood Defence Asset Database Final Report shortly after the SNP took office. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/08/20111904/16. There are concerns that the budget has been cut in an effort to fund an additional Forth Bridge. 19/05/09 |
|
|
This site is sponsored by Councillor John Bell |
North Ayrshire
Council received confirmation today that their bid to the Scottish Governments
school rebuilding program has been successful, and will provide 2/3 of the total
replacement cost of the school. Chair of NAC's Education Committee and former
Garnock pupil Councillor John Bell said "I am pleased to finally have Scottish
Government support to continue NAC's school rebuilding program, and especially
to ensure Garnock pupils will have access to the standard of facilities already
enjoyed in North Ayrshire's newer schools." 28/09/2009
