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This is the Centenary of the establishment of Stewarton as a
Police Burgh. To celebrate this important event the Town Council have decided to
organise many activities during one week in November, 1968.
Contact has been made with all the social organisations in the Town, with a view
to each of them participating in the celebrations and we are more than hopeful
that there will be continuing activities during the months leading up to
November.
The Town Council is making finance available to enable these activities to be as
ambitious as possible.
We are also publishing, in conjunction with the Bonnet Guild, a book about the
Burgh, outlining the historical and industrial development over this period, and
this will be on sale soon.
Since the first Report which was published last year many of the developments
referred to have come to fruition particularly in the field of housing.
The 56 Houses in Kilwinning Road have been occupied by 14 Overspill Tenants and
42 Stewarton Tenants. While the garage sites have not been completed the order
has been placed with the Contractor and work should be starting soon.
In the same area, the town's most ambitious housing scheme at " Rig-head " is
almost complete and the ISO houses occupied by 114 Overspill and 66 Stewarton
Tenants. Provision has been made here for 181 garages of a superior type in
order to maintain the amenity of the area.
When this site has been landscaped, and the roads leading to it completed, this
site will be the envy of many Small Burghs in Ayrshire. At our invitation
Darvel Town Council paid a visit to the Town, and expressed their surprise at
the progress being made and the standards which we had achieved.
The most satisfying aspect of the situation is of course the considerable
inroads which we have made into our housing lists, and the delight of the many
young couples who have been able to occupy a new home within a few months of
being married.
Stewarton's housing record, pro-rota to population is one of the best in
Scotland.
It is to be regretted that progress at Standalane has not been as speedy as we
hoped, but some difficulty has been experienced with the authorities on layout.
This has now been overcome, and with the site completely cleared, work should
begin shortly.
Work has not begun at either High Street or Dean Street since the Town Council
have reconsidered their policy at these two sites, and now intend to seek the
advice of a Consultant Architect in order to make these areas something of which
the Town can be proud. It should be noted that this will be an expensive project
but one which shall be well worthwhile for the Town. The Cairns Church has now
been transferred to the Housing Committee with a view to having it included in a
comprehensive development of the High Street Area.
The Planners are busy on the Robertland site laying out plans for Houses,
Bridges, a Primary School and a recreational area within which we would like to
construct a golf course. It is intended that the present bridges at Spring-well
Place will be closed to all but foot traffic and the new bridge will be
constructed near the old waterfall.
Tremendous progress is being made in the private development areas and the
number of projects pending are quite substantial.
All in all, including Local Authority Houses, Private Developments and S.S.H.A.
Developments being completed or pending, there will be 1,800 additional
dwellings in Stewarton.
Our old people are not being forgotten, and the success of our recent
conversions has encouraged the Housing Committee to go ahead with similar
schemes as houses become available.
These schemes are very rapidly eating into the land available for further
development, as well as overlapping into the county landward area. As a result,
the Town Council are now considering approaches to have the Burgh Boundary
extended.
BURGH FINANCE
In common with almost all public and private undertakings, the costs of running
the burgh this year rose. This was mainly due to three factors: a very
considerable increase in County Council Expenditure from £105,000 to £134,000; a
heavy but very necessary housing programme which has now
put us in a healthy position as regards our waiting list for housing; and the
national increase in costs affecting all our goods and services. Our own Burgh
expenditure increase was held to £6,000 rising to £54,000 as compared with
£48,000 last year, almost entirely due to the housing programme, but the County
Requisition increase could not be absorbed without severe detriment to our Burgh
Services. Therefore the burden has been spread by both the rent increases of
1967 which had their main effect this year, and an increase in the rates this
year from 17/6 to 19/- in the pound.
The only area of expenditure cut-back has been in road-works, where the planned
impetus of the previous two years has enabled reduction to occur. However, the
current levels of services will have to accelerate in the near future since it
is intended to improve the existing standards and extend them to a rapidly
increasing population. This will be difficult in the current climate of very
high interest rates and central governmental limitations in our control of
income.
RAILWAY SERVICES
The past year has witnessed a dogged struggle to convince the British Railways
of the essential nature of Stewarton's rail link with Glasgow. Despite British
Railways having secured the Ministry's approval to terminate the service, we
achieved the unique distinction of persuading them to reintroduce a modified
service, and our thanks are due to the great help given us by the M.P. for
Central Ayrshire, the Scottish Railway Development Association and the other
local authorities who are our neighbours. Nevertheless, the service we now have
is dependent entirely upon the volume of traffic, and if we wish to retain it,
we must make maximum use of it.
TRANSPORT SERVICES
The attention of the Council has also been directed towards bus services. Local
Authorities throughout Scotland are protesting vigorously against the all too
frequent rises in fares, which penalise the lower paid families in the community
who cannot afford private cars. A delegate from Stewarton has attended an
important conference in Stirling and supported a move to set up working parties
on bus services. A body of this kind has now been established for the South
West. It will demand from the bus companies all the evidence on which they base
their claims for increased fares, and will plead before the Traffic
Commissioners the case for the traveling public. This is a national campaign,
not only for reasonable fares, but for better services; Stewarton is committccd
to this campaign and will play its part on behalf of the local area.
EDUCATION
The policy of the County Council, as is already well-known, is that education in
Ayrshire should be reorganised along comprehensive lines. There has been a
suggestion that, in accordance with this policy, the High School in Stewarton
may be downgraded to Primary. The Council has made representations to the County
that this proposal must be reconsidered, that the school should retain its
present status for the time being, and that the possibility of establishing a
6-year Comprehensive should be taken into account as the size of the Burgh
increases.
As the Civic Report goes to press, no decision has been made. We feel that we
have a good case, and have been anxious to persuade the Education Authority to
act in our best interests.
REGIONAL WATER BOARD
By Act of Parliament, the powers of Stewarton Town Council, in common with other
water authorities, have now been taken over by the Regional Water Board. During
the process of forming the Board for Ayrshire and Bute, the Council added its
voice to those of other small burghs in Ayrshire in insisting upon direct
representation on the basis of one representative per authority, as being the
most democratic means of controlling water services. However, the decision of
the Secretary of State was that we should be " paired " with Kilwinning, and
that an agreement should be reached between the two burghs as to representation.
At a meeting with Kilwinning Town Council, it was decided that for the first
three years of the Board's existence, a member from Kilwinning should represent
both burghs; for the following three years, Stewarton would take its turn.
Since there is an immediate need for an expansion of Stewarton's water resources
to fulfill the requirements of an increased population, it is very important to
make sure that the Board deals adequately with our problems. Ideally, the answer
would have been to have our own man on the Board all the time. As it happens,
however, there seems little cause for concern. We are fortunate to have as our
spokesman Bailie Kerr of Kilwinning, who has agreed to visit Stewarton regularly
and attend meetings of the Water Committee in order to keep in close touch and
supply first-hand reports of progress. We feel we can assure the electorate that
their interests will not be neglected.
SEWAGE WORKS
Construction of the new Sewage Works is expected to start this year. It has
taken a long time to reach this point, and it will be another two years before
the system is in operation. But it should be remembered that at least one reason
for this is that a project of this kind is highly technical, and not such a
straight-forward matter as building houses—and even that is quite complicated.
By the time this report is published, tenders for the work will have been
received and dealt with. The works have been planned to cope with the expected
increase in the population, and will therefore be expensive.
But they will also be modern and efficient—a vast improvement on the outdated
and inefficient system which we have at present.
BURGH SURVEYOR
We have been pleased to welcome our new Burgh Surveyor, Mr. Donaldson. He has
come to us from Stranraer, and joined us at the beginning of March. We hope he
will enjoy working in Stewarton, employing his talents in a Burgh that is not
only growing in size, but also, we hope, widening its outlook and gaining a new
vitality.
PUBLIC PARKS
During the year the Town Council received in the form of a gift the lands
formerly known as Corsehillbanks. This has now been renamed " Cunningham-Watt
Park " at the request of the donor Miss Watt, Paisley.
The land is to be used solely as a playground for children or recreation ground
for the citizens of Stewarton. A suitable plaque will be erected near the
principal entrance to the recreation ground bearing the inscription "
Cunningham-Watt Park ". The Town Council extend their thanks for this valuable
gift.
LIGHTING—CLASSIFIED ROADS
As from 15th May, 1968, Ayr County Council will be responsible for the
maintenance and operation of lighting on classified roads in virtue of the
provisions of the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1966. The Town Council will
continue to be responsible for lighting on unclassified roads.
HOUSING REPAIRS
This year the Council has again increased the amount spent on carrying out
Housing Repairs and improvements to Council Houses. The re-wiring of all the
pre-war Houses started in September, and is expected to be completed by October
or November of this year. The kitchen units scheme has been completed and has
proved to be of a great success. Various experiments are being tried to overcome
condensation and the views of the Scottish Development Department are being
obtained on this subject. Leaflets have been obtained from the Department
concerning condensation and these may be obtained at the Council Offices.
INSTITUTE HALL
During the year 150 new stacking chairs have been purchased for the hall and a
further 150 similar chairs will be purchased during the next financial year.
Repairs have been carried out to the premises and provision has been made for a
temporary Bar for use in the Large Hall.
MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS
Plans are in course of preparation for the extension of the existing
accommodation to accommodate all the administrative staff at the Municipal
Buildings.
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