Fort seafield and Wallacetown Community Council

07/10/2026

Agenda for our October meeting: Wednesday 14 October 2026, 6.30pm, The Grain Exchange (Newmarket Street entrance), 81 High Street, Ayr KA7 1QL. All welcome. Links to agenda, draft and previous minutes in the comments.

02/10/2026

Burns Statue Square: £16m approved despite community opposition

At our 9 September meeting, FSWCC restated its opposition to the redevelopment of Burns Statue Square. The day after, South Ayrshire Council approved it, with work planned from early 2027.

• The Council's own paper admits no options appraisal was carried out. Where the consultation allowed written comments, most were critical.
• The same funding stream was previously secured for a new swimming pool at the Arran Mall site, so spending it on the Square was councillors' choice.

The full item from our draft minutes is in the photo.

Next meeting: Wednesday 14 October, 18:30, The Grain Exchange (Newmarket Street entrance). The Accessible Ayr cycle lane proposals for Alloway Street and Sandgate seem to be back from the dead...

If you run a business in the town centre, shop there, or care about what becomes of the town, come along and tell us how these schemes would affect trade or your experience of the town centre.

Our full agenda will be published on Wednesday 7 October, so watch this space.

Full draft minutes in the comments 👇

02/09/2026

📅 FSWCC Meeting — Wednesday 9th September, 18:30

Our next monthly meeting is one week today. All welcome.

The Grain Exchange (Newmarket Street entrance), 81 High Street, Ayr, KA7 1QL

On the agenda: Burns Statue Square (ahead of South Ayrshire Council's anticipated decision on 10th September), Blackburn Car Park update, Ayr South Beach sand ingress, and the Community Led Action Plan, among other items.

See comments below for the web-links to the September agenda, and the draft minutes of our August meeting — where we heard South Ayrshire Council confirm its responsibility for Blackburn Car Park's physical protective measures.

31/08/2026

📍 Blackburn Car Park, south gateway (Ayr India/ the Esplanade)

An update on countering anti-social behaviour at Blackburn Car Park.

South Ayrshire Council has now confirmed, in writing, that it holds ultimate responsibility for whether this site has physical protective measures such as barriers.

Ayrshire Roads Alliance delivers works on the ground, but decisions and funding sit with the Council.

That matters because the barrier at the south gateway (pictured) currently isn't in use — the Council has said it is unsafe for staff to operate it, and an external contractor considered for the role declined for the same reason. So presently there is no barrier here.

🚧 In the meantime, the response is mostly about managing what happens after the fact — police patrols and leafleting — rather than preventing it in the first place. Speed bumps and vehicle stops are also planned for the car park itself.

FSWCC continues to press the Council for a clear timeline for an effective barrier being deployed, and to hasten alternative counter-measures in the meantime.

Full draft minutes are in the comments. Next meeting: Wednesday 9th September, 18:30, at The Grain Exchange (Newmarket Street entrance), 81 High Street, Ayr, KA7 1QL — all welcome.

26/08/2026

We've submitted our response to South Ayrshire Council's consultation on Burns Statue Square — the proposal to pedestrianise most of the existing road space there and create a plaza, with surrounding roads reconfigured to suit.

Our full response at fswcc.org.uk/news.php

The whole document here: https://fswcc.org.uk/pdf/FSWCCs%20consultation%20response%20-%20Burns%20Statue%20Square%20-%20July%202026.pdf

Find Your South Ayrshire Councillor: https://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/councillors/

Decision Day: Thursday 10th September

26/08/2026

We've submitted our response to South Ayrshire Council's consultation on Burns Statue Square — the proposal to pedestrianise most of the existing road space there and create a plaza, with surrounding roads reconfigured to suit. £16m.

Full response — link in the comments.

No cost-benefit analysis has been produced (that we've seen or heard about).

The scheme functions as a terminus, not a gateway — it won't improve access to the high street from east or south Ayr. North Ayr's route to get here, or to the high street, is as circuitous as ever.

It's also shaping up mainly as a nightlife space: daytime trade, the real engine of the town centre, gets disruption during construction and no new amenity for people to come to.

Full Council decides on 10th September.

Have an opinion? Tell your councillor — link in comments. 🗳️

17/08/2026

09/08/2026

📅 Agenda: FSWCC meeting, Wed 12 August 2026, 18:30, The Grain Exchange

Guest speaker: Jane Corrie, Head of Ayrshire Roads Alliance, on Blackburn Car Park anti-social behaviour countermeasures.

Context: SAC's Full Council (14 May 2026) committed to a Cabinet report on coastal and seasonal parking management by Q2 2026/27, under Ms Corrie's remit — and Blackburn is Ayr's prime beach car park. We'll be pressing for a firm timeline.

All welcome — public questions taken

www.fswcc.org.uk [email protected]

09/08/2026

📋 Draft Minutes: FSWCC meeting, Wed 8 July 2026

Now published ahead of our 7-day statutory window. Watermarked DRAFT pending formal approval at the 12 Aug meeting.

Highlight: ~15 members of the public joined guest speakers Streets UK for the Burns Statue Square redevelopment Q&A — the "Four R's" (Rationale, Roads, Rabbie Burns theme, Retailers).

FSWCC's formal consultation response has since been submitted; 12 Aug's agenda carries this as a report-back, come hear the next steps:

Wed 12 August 2026, 18:30–20:00, The Grain Exchange (SAC Thriving Communities entrance – Newmarket Street), 81 High Street, Ayr, KA7 1QL