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2007 Annual Report

AGM Monday 14^th May 2007

Peter Mason has been elected as the new chairman of Maybole Community Council taking over from David Kiltie.

The election was held at the AGM which was chaired by Margaret Burns representing South Ayrshire Council as this was the first of a three year term of office for the recently elected community councillors.

Other office bearers are Alex Kelly, vice chair; Anne walker, secretary; and Gillian Durrant, treasurer.

Ms Burns reported that 12 community councillors had been nominated for 15 vacancies so there had been no need for an election. With three eats not filled former community councillor and South Ayrshire councillor Alan Murray and former community councillor Wendy McClure were co-opted to fill two of the positions. Anyone else interested in being considered to fill the last remaining vacancy is asked to contact the secretary.

In his annual report retiring chairman David Kiltie commented on what had been a very busy year.

He said, “Other groups we were represented on included Maybole Resource Centre’s Advisory Committee, Maybole Town Twinning Association, Carrick Crime Prevention Panel, Carrick Community Transport Group, the local Sports Association, Maybole Community Association, Maybole Sick Nursing Association, Maybole Carnegie 21^st Century Hall Committee, the Association of South Ayrshire Community Councils, Carrick Community Council Forum, and the new Carrick Centre management committee.

Thanks are due to all community councillors who put in extra work as part of all these groups.”

He went on to recall an eventful year for the Bypass Committee which organised several successful demonstrations; attracted a lot of support from the local MP and several MSPs; and lobbied the Transport Minister, Tavish Scott.

In June, a delegation had travelled to Holyrood to meet Cathy Jamieson MSP and to lobby the Transport Minister who presented them with a copy of the STAG 1 report.

Tavish Scott, told community councillors, “This has been an important study and I am pleased progress has been made to address the transport issues local residents and businesses face.”

Carrick Academy’s S4 XL Club pupils had also visited the Scottish Parliament to press the case for a Maybole bypass. The community council hosted a special event for them to recognise their achievement in producing a DVD highlighting the need for a bypass for the town.

In addition there had been several problems with lights in Maybole and concerns about the speed of traffic through the town.

The proposed closure if Accident & Emergency facilities at Ayr Hospital were another concern for community councillors and a delegation met with Health Minister Andy Kerr at Holyrood.

Mr Kiltie felt that the recent change in government at Holyrood should be the impetus to lobby for the closure proposals to be reversed.

He continued his report pointing out, “2007 is the 250^th anniversary of the marriage of Robert Burns’ parents in Maybole and plans for a year long festival have been awarded a grant of £46,800 by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

“We feel that the chance meeting of William Burnes and Agnes Broun at the foot of Maybole High Street in 1756 was the real beginning of the immortal story of Robert Burns.”

A grant of £24,800 has been awarded by the Heritage Lottery Young Roots fund to allow local young people to research the history of Carrick Academy’s badge, which has associations with the UK royal family and the former royal family of France, and other details of Maybole rich history.

Already pupils from Carrick Academy, Queen Margaret Academy and Maybole Youth Club have signed up to take part in the project which will be assisted by local historians. The young people will be involved in researching and designing period costumes, dramatising the town’s history and recoding this on a DVD.

As in previous years the community council had worked closely with the Maybole Branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland in the Armistice Day, Remembrance Sunday and Holocaust Day services. Next month they will be involved in commemorating two local VCs at a special drumhead service at the Greenside on Sunday 24^th June at 1.45pm.

Windfarms, at Knoweside and Dersalloch, had become an issue locally and Maybole Community Council had been very involved in discussions with developers.

In September, Maybole had marked the 150th anniversary of the railway line coming to Maybole. In a small start to improving the station environment, the “MAYBOLE” sign opposite the platform was once again revealed and flower tubs were installed.

A longer term project is being planned which will allow local school children to design and create a mosaic on the embankment on the far side of the station. Permission for this work on the embankment, however, has been refused. South Ayrshire Council has agreed part funding for this project.

Cathy Jamieson MSP had visited Maybole Castle to hear about new proposals for the 450 year old building and was accompanied by Patricia Ferguson MSP who was the Scottish Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport. Proposed plans for the possibility of the Castle being taken over by a group of local organisations and potential activities were outlined as well as the amount of finance required if the project had any chance of succeeding.

“One very sad event,” said Mr Kiltie, “was the murder of Amjid Ismail of Kirkland Stores.

“The whole town was hit hard by this and a number of us attended his funeral in Glasgow. We were also represented at a memorial service for Amjid on Saturday December 9 in the Baptist Church and afterwards in the town hall. Our sympathies go to the family for the unfortunate and untimely death of their son and brother.

In addition, we have contributed to a fund organised by pupils of Carrick Academy to establish a summer seat in Amjid’s memory.”

Looking to the future Mr Kiltie added, “This year is the 25^th anniversary of the official twinning between Maybole and Crosne. We wish the Town Twinning Association well in its plans to celebrate this significant occasion. We are especially pleased to see the senior schools from both towns re-establishing links.”

He concluded by offering the thanks of Maybole Community Council to everyone who helped in any way over the past 12 months.

In particular he mentioned Cathy Jamieson MSP, Sandra Osborne MP, Councillors Alan Murray and Brian Connolly, staff of South Ayrshire Council, especially all Town Hall Staff for their help at meetings and public events, local police, especially Sgt Gilmour for all his assistance, Maybole Community Association, Maybole Historical Society, and Maybole branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland.

He also paid tribute to Maybole’s web master Rich Pettit of Clearwater, Florida, USA, and thanked everyone who had contributed photographs, articles and memories to the web site.

2006 Annual Report Photo of Maybole Community Council

It was a case of “as you were” at Maybole Community Council’s 2006 AGM recently when the office bearers were all re-elected. This means David Kiltie will continue as chairman for the next year with Alex Kelly as vice chairman, Anne Walker as secretary and Gillian Durrant as treasurer. In his report for the year April 2005 to March 2006, Mr Kiltie pointed out that his report covers the second year of the community council’s three year term of office from 2004 - 2007. He continued, “Office bearers elected for 2005-06 were David Kiltie, (chairman); Alex Kelly, (vice-chairman); Anne Walker, (secretary); and Gillian Durrant (treasurer).

Brian Connolly was successful in last year’s by-election. Unfortunately, Moira Auld tendered her resignation last year and we would like to thank her for her time with us. This meant that we were back to having two vacancies on the Council for the East Ward. These positions were filled by Karen Simpson and Wendy McClure. Alan Martin was co-opted from Maybole Business Association. Brian Connolly was also elected to South Ayrshire Council in a by-election in February this year so had to resign.

We currently have only one main committee - our General Purposes Committee. This committee is meant to be the driving force of the community council but there seems to be problems with members attending and for the last year of our term we really should address this. A Bypass sub-committee was created and it works with others in the town to draw attention to the lack of response from the Scottish Executive. There have been several successful demonstrations in recent months.

Other groups we were represented on included:

Maybole Resource Centre’s Advisory Committee, Maybole Town Twinning Association, Carrick Crime Prevention Panel, Carrick Community Transport Group, the local Sports Association, the Community Association, Maybole Sick Nursing Association, Maybole Carnegie 21st Century Halls Committee and the new Association of South Ayrshire Community Councils.

Thanks are due to all community councillors who put in extra work as part of all these groups.

Remembrance Services

As in previous years we worked closely with the Maybole Branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland in the Armistice Day, Remembrance Sunday and Holocaust Day services. Due to the West Church having closed, last November’s service was held in

the Town Hall followed by a parade to the war memorial. This was very successful and will continue this year.

We were also involved in last year’s celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. £10,000 was awarded by the Home Front Recall Fund to ourselves in partnership with Maybole Community Association, Maybole Historical Society and the Maybole branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland.

The Home Front Recall Fund was a joint Lottery grants programme supported by the Big Lottery Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund and the cheque was presented by Councillor Alan Murray at Maybole Castle.

A whole series of events had been planned for Maybole to celebrate the end of World War II with veterans of the war, to especially remember the efforts of those often unsung heroes of the home front whose contribution was equally as important, and to give modern day children some inkling of what life was like during the war years. We are very grateful to the Big Lottery Home Front Recall Fund which made this possible.”

Davie Hunter, chairman of Maybole branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland – the oldest branch in the country – said he was delighted the funds had been awarded, especially as this would probably be the last official celebration of the end of the war. The £10,000 was to go towards meeting the costs of a drumhead service on Sunday 21st August and a reception afterwards; two concerts later in the year and the publication of a commemorative book containing memories of Maybole during the war years from 1939-45.

The Big Lottery Fund was delighted to support the WWII commemorations in Maybole, and particularly pleased to see that people of all ages and from all backgrounds would be taking part. For young people in particular it was felt these events would help them to gain a greater understanding of how their communities were affected during the war. All veterans and groups who normally take part in the annual Remembrance services were invited to parade with their colours on 21st August. A superb DVD has been produced of this day. Also, in September, there was a very special day at Culzean with displays, a big party and other attractions including WWII military vehicles, equipment and personnel in uniform.

Next month on Gala Day, 17th June, we are helping to celebrate three events in one:-H.M The Queen's 80th Birthday; National Veteran's Day and our local RBLS branch’s 85th Anniversary.

On 18th June 1921 a conference was held by Field Marshal Lord Haig in Edinburgh's Usher Hall at which over 100 ex-service associations met and agreed to come together under the title The British Legion. These associations then had to go back to their members to get their agreement. Immediately after that meeting in Edinburgh Field Marshal Lord Haig was at Culzean on a visit to the Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire, The Marquess of Ailsa, and from that visit a communication was sent to Mr Hugh Fairlie, Provost of Maybole, who in turn instructed Mr John W Best MM, who was the only remaining member of the Soldiers and Sailors Society left in Maybole, to arrange a public meeting in Maybole Coffee House on 28th June 1921. The meeting was chaired by Captain A Ramsay MC and a Maybole Branch was formed under the title British Legion and became the first Branch to be formed in the United Kingdom.

Web site – www.maybole.org

Our web site goes from strength to strength and once again I must pay tribute to our web master Rich Pettit of Clearwater, Florida, USA. We also thank everyone who has contributed photographs, articles and memories to what has been described by many as a wonderful web site. Our web site was commended in the Calor Scottish Community of the Year Awards 2005.

Jean Falconer Literary Competition

Once again we ran this in conjunction with our local schools and we thank them and our judges for their continued support. This year’s presentation will be held on Tuesday 13th June 2006.

Tsunami appeal

Following the tragic events in South East Asia at Christmas 2004, a number of people in the town felt we should have our own town appeal and we agreed to open an account to collate all the funds raised. This closed at Gala Day last June.

A total of £6,025 was raised - over a million rupees - for two projects in Sri Lanka. This was a tremendous effort by the town. As far as we could determine, earlier in the year over £8,000 had already been donated by local people and businesses.

Scrolls

In 1999 and 2000 we awarded “Scrolls of Appreciation” to a total of 46 people and last year we again invited nominations from the public of names of those who deserved to be recognised for their achievements in bringing recognition to Maybole or for service to the town. Fourteen awards were made last December.

Other issues over the year

Having the High Street Cross found and placed back in the road. Our thanks to Amey staff for their assistance.

The Maybole Community News was under threat but the publishers of the Carrick Gazette stepped in to keep this going.

Windfarms, at Knoweside and Dersalloch, came to the fore.

All weather pitch at Carrick Academy.

A new railway bridge was very controversial.

P Barton spoke with South Ayrshire Council about the possibilities of a lift within the town hall

The proposed closure of the Accident & Emergency Department at Ayr Hospital was another very controversial topic. There was a public meeting held in the Town Hall on Thursday 29th September 2005. A petition against the closure was organised by the Association of South Ayrshire Community Councils and this was handed in to Boswell House on Friday 4th November 2005 with the total signatures over 40,000.

The Christmas light switch-on was organised for Friday 25th November, with a family disco afterwards. Our thanks to all who helped with this.

In December we organised a very special event involving the Lord Lieutenant who was very impressed with the day. Thanks to everyone involved in that.

One of our members, Pearl Barton, was named as citizen of the year by the Carrick Gazette. Congratulations to Pearl.

We heard about a booklet called “Common Good Land in Scotland” and decided to buy a copy. This could be helpful to us as we heard that there were threats to Maybole Golf Course. Recently, the author of the booklet was here in the Town Hall speaking on the topic and many who attended found his talk very interesting.

Councillor Murray brought to our attention that there has been a consultant’s report, which was suggesting that Maybole golf course may be abandoned at the saving of about £40,000 to the council.

We have been working on producing a new guide book for the town and Awards for All have granted almost £5,000 to fund this. The last town guide was produced around 1970.

We have begun to recall the 21st Century Halls Committee and made contact with Maybole Community Association to discuss possible changes in the constitution. This would enable us to free up the funds in the bank.

We have also been involved in various local problems including the situation with the local Royal Mail service.

Other matters of interest

2006 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of John Loudon McAdam.

Although born in Ayr, in 1756, McAdam was educated at Mr Doig’s school in Maybole and he was a frequent visitor to the district until his death in Moffat in 1836.

From 1785 to 1798 he lived at Sauchrie, a few miles out of the town, and he first carried out his experiments in 'Macadamising" in Maybole.

2006 is also the 250th anniversary of the first meeting of the parents of Robert Burns at a market in Maybole.

All the Burns’ trails promoted nationally ignore completely the life of Burns’ parents prior to their move to Alloway shortly before he was born.

Also omitted is the town of Maybole, possibly the most important place in the story because, if it were not for the market there, Burns’ parents might never have met and there would have been no story at all!

It is fairly safe to say that, had it not been for Maybole and the Fair in the High Street where William Burnes met and fell for Agnes Brown, our national Bard might never have existed.

The Burns Trail rightfully begins in Maybole - at the cemetery gate where there was a church in which the Bard's parents were married on December 15, 1757.

To celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the marriage of William Burnes and Agnes Brown several we are working with the Historical Society and the Community Association to put a bid to the Lottery Heritage Fund to allow the town to mark the occasion next year.

Proposals include:

1. Siting of a perspex covered plinth in the small piece of garden in front of the Factor’s Office at Maybole Castle containing the bust of Robert Burns originally situated on the top of the butcher’s shop diagonally opposite.

2. Special Day with extra events at the Greenside such as a market with local suppliers in period costume – market from 09.30 – 12.30.

3 Special competition for shop windows in a 1757 theme with additional money sought for period costumes and decoration for each shop in the High Street.

4 In addition to the normal Gala King and Queen etc there would be a William Burnes and an Agnes Brown; sponsorship of floats and walking groups which will all have a period theme; the parade to start normally at Carrick Academy but there would be a stop at the Castle where William Burnes meets Agnes Brown and escorts her to the Gala festivities in the Glebe Park.

5 A large Fair at the Glebe Park with special displays and stallholders in period costume.

6. Addition of Maybole to the Burns trail and appropriate signage for the whole trail – STARTING IN MAYBOLE! (This will also have benefits in 2009)

7. A series of events in the Castle and Town Hall around about 17th December 2007 themed on Burns’ poetry and music to celebrate the anniversary of the wedding. A large depiction of the marriage could be projected on to the Castle.

8 Possible production of DVD of all events.

One of the main links with the town’s history is Maybole Castle. The community of Maybole is being offered ownership of Maybole Castle by the trustees of Cassillis Estate.

The estate trustees, however, are only willing to pass the castle to a community partnership to manage. The current proposal is that a partnership be formed between Maybole Community Council, Maybole Historical Society, Maybole Community Association, Maybole Business Association, and May-Tag Ltd. Work is currently being done to establish the Estate’s offer and what would be required to set the partnership proposed.

May-Tag Ltd have secured an offer from Historic Scotland for £450,000. towards restoration of the Castle roof. The proposal is that a community company be formed to own the Castle and May-tag would operate the facilities incorporated in the Castle. To further this May-tag are currently bidding for a development person to take this innovative project forward, together with social Enterprises in partnership with Cassillis estate.

Other future projects

This year is the 25th anniversary of the very first visit to Crosne and Alan Murray and I will be there for the Pentecost weekend at the same time as pupils from Carrick Academy.

We are researching and intending to apply for funds for:

High Street enhancement.

Historical Street Signs.

Renovation of the old spout at Coral Glen.

Construction of a replica of the Castle Pump.

Construction of replica boots at the town entrances on the A77.

Digitisation of Community Council Minutes.

Memorabilia with the Community Council coat of arms.

Historical town sign at the Greenside for tourists.

Thanks

Finally, I would like to offer the thanks of Maybole Community Council to everyone who helped us in any way over the past 12 months.

Our politicians - Cathy Jamieson MSP, Sandra Osborne MP, Councillor Alan Murray and especially Councillor Andy Hill who was Leader of South Ayrshire Council until he resigned at the end of last year. Our thanks also to Councillor Brian Connolly for his help in the short time he has been in office.

Staff of South Ayrshire Council, especially all Town Hall Staff, for their help at our meetings and our public events.

Local police, especially Sgt Gilmour for all his assistance. Special thanks this year as we have been taking action about a bypass.

Maybole Community Association, Maybole Historical Society, Maybole branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland.

Last but not least, all of our community councillors, who have all played a role in the activities of the past year; with particular thanks to our office bearers for the work they put in.

I would also like to thank Peter Mason for all his past help. During this past year, because of work commitments, he did not seek re-election to the position of vice-chair of the community council, and stood down as chair of the GP committee. Subsequently, he also took ill although he is taking a keen interest from home.

For many years Maybole Community Council has been considered to be one of the most active in South Ayrshire. This would not have been possible without so much input from members, and co-operation from all who work with us.

2005 Annual Report

At its June meeting Maybole Community Council elected it office bearers for the second year of its current three year term of office. Re-elected were David Kiltie as chairman, Anne Walker as secretary and Gillian Durrant as Treasurer. Alex Kelly was elected vice-chairman replacing Peter Mason who had informed members that was not seeking re-election. The election of office bearers had been postponed from the annual general meeting held a week or so earlier.

Also agreed at the meeting was the co-option of Karen Simpson to one of the two vacancies on the community council. There is still a vacant seat in the East ward, covering the part of the town east of the railway line, and anyone interested in filling the vacancy is asked to contact Anne Walker, 15 Mochrum Avenue, Maybole.

At the AGM the chairman had presented his report covering the first year of their term of office from 2004 - 2007. “We had two vacancies to fill in 2004,” said Mr Kiltie, “and co-opted Brian Connolly, with the other position unfilled. Brian was successful in the 2005 by-election. Unfortunately, Moira Auld has tendered her resignation and we would like to thank her for her time with us. This means that we are back to having two vacancies on the Council for the East Ward.

He had gone on to speak about May-Tag Ltd which had been having quite a tough time and had moved out of the Castle into the new Resource Centre.

In August last year the company changed by forming a close relationship with Momentum, one of Scotland's leading providers of rehabilitation and training services.

A new Board of May-Tag was set up comprising of five directors, three nominated by Momentum and two, David Kiltie and Ellen Hawkes from May-Tag Ltd, with a sub-group of local people running the Resource Centre “management” as an Advisory Group. May-Tag’s last Board formed the initial committee.

May-Tag had been incorporated as a company on 10^th August, 1988 with its registered office in a former factory in Society Street. It had been in existence for exactly sixteen years at the time of the change. Its income had totalled £4.5 million and exceeded expenditure over the same period by about £25,000. May-Tag Ltd emerged from Maybole Community Council’s Manpower Committee and became known as its training wing. Over £500,000 in government funding had been obtained before May-Tag was formed.

Mr Kiltie had continued, “We became a registered charity and moved to establish our headquarters in Maybole's over 400 year old Castle leased from the Marquess of Ailsa and had two other local bases. We were proud to have been entrusted by the Marquess with his castle.” One project, called Signposts, was taken over and mainstreamed by South Ayrshire Council. An independent evaluation by Strathclyde University said it was an excellent value for money project. May-Tag was also instrumental in creating the local Charity Shop with its unique method of working.

The company was successful in achieving a three year New Futures Funding contract worth around £170,000 and opened the MAP (Maybole Access Point) project at 76 High Street, to try to identify and support people to face the obstacles preventing them becoming employable. This has currently been given an extension to September. “Over the year,” Mr Kiltie added, “we obtained accreditation by Learndirect Scotland, SQMS, SQA, the British Computer Centre as an ECDL test centre, and Investors in People. In 1998 we won Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire’s Business in the Community Award.

We were the main driving force in forming Maybole Community Development group which attracted over £160,000 over three years and over 50 local groups took part.

One of our most innovative projects was when we were commissioned by Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire to promote www.maybole.org and our targets were to have:

20 people in training

200 people contributing to the site,

2,000 informed of the site, and

include an online evaluation.

All this to be done inside 13 weeks!”

He said that May-Tag had been a partner with South Ayrshire Council in many projects, eg literacy and numeracy projects which attracted over £33,00 last year and more in the past. Other funding from them included £3,461 for a Visually Impaired project, and almost £7,000 for a horticulture project. This was the patio garden which won bronze at Gardening Scotland and silver at Ayr Flower Show last August.

“Last August,” he continued, “May-Tag entered a new era and I would like to thank the many people who have helped us over the years. Our three managers since 1988 – Andy Crawford, Peter Clark and Ellen Hawkes. All of the staff who worked with us in that time. All the politicians who have supported us through thick and thin - George Foulkes, Cathy Jamieson, Alan Murray and especially Andy Hill. All the funders who thought we were worth supporting . The last board who all put in a tremendous amount of work over the past few years – it had not been easy. All those who served as directors, no matter how long their term of office, their contributions have been highly valued.

Thanks also to all community councillors who have supported us down through the years.

You can all be proud of what we achieved.” He went on to report on Maybole Resource Centre saying, “When MCDG closed May-Tag funded a pilot scheme to assess the feasibility of a resource centre in the High Street. Councillor Andy Hill arranged a grant from South Ayrshire Council to help fund this.

Last year a project was approved by the Big Lottery to operate a Resource Centre for the town and the grant for this exceeds £188,000. The Centre’s official opening was on Thursday 8 July, 2004. The project will develop and co-ordinate the capacity of the voluntary sector in the town. It will provide a range of training opportunities for volunteers working in community organisations, establish a meeting place and office facilities for groups to deliver their activities, and develop networks between voluntary organisations to enable co-ordination of activity.

There had also been discussions with the local Fairshare Panel with regard to employing someone who would work in the local villages. This now looks very likely to happen as the application has been approved locally and now awaits national approval.”

Other areas of the community council’s work that he touched on included:

Remembrance Services
As in previous years we worked closely with the Maybole Branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland playing our usual enabling role in the Armistice Day and Remembrance Day Services. We will also be involved in this year’s celebrations to mark the 60^th anniversary of the end of the war.

Web site – www.maybole.org
Our web site goes from strength to strength. April 2005 saw total hits of 867,349 for the month. The time spent online at our web site in the 30 day month was 3,574 hours - that’s the equivalent of approximately 150 days. Two years ago the web site achieved over 400,000 page hits a month so you can see how popular a resource this has become. Last July there were 1,416,744 hits and 2,161 hours spent. In August there was an all-time record of 1,766,574 hits in 2542 hours. We have contributors from all over the world and several people are now finding their way here to trace their family roots. Dave Killicoat, vice chairman of Maybole Historical Society, has been a tremendous source of help with this. Once again I must pay tribute to our web master Rich Pettit of Clearwater, Florida, USA, who traces his roots to Carrick’s capital. We also thank everyone who has contributed photographs, articles and memories to what has been described by many as a wonderful web site.

Jean Falconer Literary Competition
Once again we ran this in conjunction with our local schools and we thank them and our judges for their continued support.

Donations
We gave a grant of £50 to help fund a community project for a police speed gun.

Tsunami appeal

Following the tragic events in South East Asia last Christmas, a number of people in the town felt we should have our own town appeal and we agreed to open an account to collate all the funds raised. This will close at Gala Day in June.

Scrolls
In 1999 and 2000 we awarded “Scrolls of Appreciation” to a total of 46 people and this year we are again inviting nominations from the public of names of those who deserve to be recognised for their achievements in bringing recognition to Maybole or for service to the town.

Thanks
Finally, I would like to offer the thanks of Maybole Community Council to everyone who helped us in any way over the past 12 months.

Our politicians - George Foulkes, Cathy Jamieson, Alan Murray and Andy Hill, Leader of South Ayrshire Council. Staff of South Ayrshire Council, especially all Town Hall Staff, for their help at our meetings and our public events. Local police especially Sgt Gilmour for all his assistance.

I would also like to thank the Ayrshire Post for producing Maybole Community News over the past few years. Unfortunately, this has now been discontinued unless we can find the funds to produce it.

Last but not least, all of our community councillors, who have all played a role in the activities of the past year; with particular thanks to our office bearers for the work they put in.

This year we have perhaps not been quite so active, due in part to personal circumstances of some of our office bearers. These circumstances have included family bereavements and work responsibilities among other reasons. Our vice chairman Peter Mason has intimated that due to work commitments he will not be standing as a candidate for this position this year and also that he will be resigning as chairman of our General Purposes Committee. He will be continuing as a community councillor, thankfully.

I would like to pay tribute to Peter for all his work over the past few years.

2004 Annual Report

Maybole Community Council Annual Report: Last week Maybole Community Council held its AGM for the final year of its three year term of office from 2001 – 2004. Office bearers who had been elected for the year from April 2003 – March 4 were David Kiltie, (chairman); Peter Mason (vice-chairman); Anne Walker, (secretary); and Jim McDermott, (treasurer). In his report Mr Kiltie said that the community council had been represented on the Town Twinning Association, Maybole Community Development Group, Carrick Crime Prevention Panel, Carrick Community Transport Group, the local Sports Association, the Community Association, Maybole Sick Nursing Association, Maybole Carnegie 21st Century Halls Committee and the new Association of South Ayrshire Community Councils.

That Association was formed to allow community councils to share information, experience and examples of good practice; provide mutual support on matters of common interest; raise standards of practice among Community Councils; become involved in discussions about policy development and other strategic matters with public bodies serving the South Ayrshire area; and provide training and related opportunities for community councillors. “Following the recent community council elections,” he said, “a number of key individuals who were involved in the Association are now no longer community councillors. At present, there seems to be a lack of drive to take the Association forward. Last week I met with the chairman of Prestwick South Community Councils to discuss this situation.

We feel there should be a further attempt to see if there is interest in the Association and have arranged a meeting which will be held on Monday 21st June here in the Town Hall. The purpose of this meeting will be to finally confirm if Community Councils wish to have an Association.” He then thanked to all community councillors who put in extra work as part of all these groups. May-Tag Ltd is seen as the “training wing” of the community council and several members serve on the board of directors of the company which is a registered charity. “May-Tag Ltd has now moved out of Maybole Castle into the new Resource Centre,” he added, “which should put it in a good position to provide training to more people.” Mr Kiltie went on to describe the background to the new resource centre. “Maybole Community Development Group finished its project at the end of May 2003,” he said, “and the company has now been wound up. Maybole Community Council played a lead role in the group and all members are grateful to the National Lottery Charities Board, Scotland for the grant of £176,377 over the three years of the project’s life.

An application to the Community Fund to enlarge the project into North Carrick was unfortunately turned down last May. When MCDG closed May-Tag started a pilot scheme to assess the feasibility of a resource centre in the High Street and Councillor Andy Hill arranged a grant to help fund this. We now have a project approved by the Community Fund to operate a Resource Centre for the town and the grant for this exceeds £188,000. The project will develop and co-ordinate the capacity of the voluntary sector in the town. It will provide a range of training opportunities for volunteers working in community organisations, establish a meeting place and office facilities for groups to deliver their activities and develop networks between voluntary organisations to enable co-ordination of activity. There have also been discussions with the local Fairshare Panel with regard to employing someone who would work in the local villages.” On other involvement he commented, “As in previous years we worked closely with the Maybole Branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland playing our usual enabling role in the Armistice Day and Remembrance Day Services.

Once again we ran the Jean Falconer Literary Competition in conjunction with our local schools and we thank them and our judges for their continued support. We agreed to price new trophies and to look into sponsorship. We are delighted to see Maybole Historical Society is capturing some of Rev Roderick Lawson’s monthly letters in electronic form and we are happy to have played a small part in this. This project should make them more accessible in the future. If anyone knows of other copies of these documents the society would be delighted to hear from them.”

Mr Kiltie commented, “Our web site - www.maybole.org - goes from strength to strength. March 2004 was a new record with 735,488 page hits! The time spent online was 2,514 hours - that’s the equivalent of approximately 105 days. April was a little less at 672,289 hits which is the second highest ever total. Last year the web site achieved over 400,000 page hits a month so you can see how popular a resource this has become. We have contributors from all over the world and several people are now finding their way here to trace their family roots. Dave Killicoat, vice chairman of Maybole Historical Society, has been a tremendous source of help with this. Once again I must pay tribute to our web master Rich Pettit of Clearwater, Florida, USA, who traces his roots to Carrick’s capital. He and his wife Elaine and their two sons Nick and Mark visited Maybole again last June for the gala weekend and we were able to thank him in person for all he has done. We also thank everyone who has contributed photographs, articles and memories to what has been described by many as a wonderful web site.”

During the year the community council gave grants of £50 each to Primary schools in the Carrick Academy cluster for their tapestry project; St Cuthbert’s Primary School, one of only five schools chosen to take part in a national project to adopt a historical building; and David Donald, a local thirteen-year-old who is off to Thailand in July to take part in the World Amateur Muay Thai Championships. Finally, Mr Kiltie comprehensively thanked everyone who had helped the council in any way over the past 12 months.

2003 Annual Report

At last week's AGM of Maybole Community Council, three main office bearers were re-elected. David Kiltie remains chairman, Peter Mason vice-chairman and Anne Walker continues as secretary. The position of treasurer will be filled at the next monthly meeting. Community Councils in South Ayrshire are elected for a three year term and this coming year is the final one of the current term. In his annual report for 2002/03 David Kiltie commented first of all on last year's celebrations to mark the community council's 25th anniversary. Two concerts had been held in a "Musical Showcase" to mark the anniversary and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. With around 200 people on stage on Friday evening and 160 on Saturday evening," he said, "local musical talent certainly provided their audiences with some brilliant entertainment. "

He continued, "The entertainment was a real extravaganza of a wide range of musical tastes with something to suit everyone. There was also lots of humour from old style plays to the hilarious antics of some of the young performers who had the audience in fits of laughter. Saturday night’s finale, which will long be remembered by those who were there, combined Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra and Maybole Pipe Band in "Flower of Scotland" and "Amazing Grace" We had marvellous entertainment from very talented local people of all ages and all of them plus their teachers and leaders deserve our grateful thanks. We also thank everyone who helped in any way, those who had helped backstage, front of house, committee members and especially Scott Crawford.

I would personally like to record once again my thanks for the gift given to me to mark 25 years as a member of the community council." Maybole Community Council is represented on various local organisations including The Town Twinning Association, Maybole Community Development Group, Carrick Crime Prevention Panel, Carrick Community Transport Group, the local Sports Association, the Community Association, Maybole Sick Nursing Association, Maybole Carnegie 21st Century Halls Committee and the new Association of South Ayrshire Community Councils. He commented on some activities with these groups and also on the success of the town's web site which had been highly commended in a national competition with a prize of £250 and a framed certificate presented by Magnus Magnusson.

Mr Kiltie paid tribute to web master Rich Pettit of Clearwater, Florida, USA, who traces his roots to Carrick’s capital and everyone who has contributed photographs, articles and memories to what has been described by many as a wonderful web site. At the presentation ceremony in Edinburgh Calor Scotland communications manager Gavin Tomlinson had enthused: "The richness of the content on the Maybole site is exceptional." Since then it has become even bigger achieving over 400,000 page hits a month for several months.

"Finally," said Mr Kiltie, " I would like to offer the thanks of Maybole Community Council to everyone who helped us in any way over the past 12 months. Firstly, our politicians - George Foulkes, Cathy Jamieson, Alan Murray and especially Andy Hill, Leader of South Ayrshire Council. We congratulate those who were successful in the recent elections and include John McDowall who won in Girvan. He is a former member of this Community Council. Special thanks, too, go to the staff of South Ayrshire Council, for their co-operation and assistance.

Secondly, all Town Hall Staff, for their help at our meetings and our public events. There has been a certain amount of sadness too as we lost former members William Grant, Nan Bennett (Carmichael) and Robert Allanach. A great stalwart of the twinning and our local pipe band Jim Sym also died. Jim was a recipient of one of our special medallions. Last but not least, community councillors, who have all played a role in the activities of the past year; with particular thanks to our office bearers for the work they put in. Maybole Community Council must be one of the most active in South Ayrshire but this would not be possible without so much input from members, and co-operation from all who work with us.