The proposals for a multi-million pound housing development will go before Ayr city councillors next week. The councillors will finally meet to discuss the £13 million plan to regenerate the Lochside maisonettes after the original meet was delayed for three weeks due to “procedural issues”.
Council chiefs are eager to rebuild on the site, which has seen a number of properties fall well below acceptable living standards. Now, following many meetings with residents where several options were discussed, the decision has been taken to demolish the run down houses and build new flats instead. The Lochside site was hit by storms last November and the roof was torn from some properties. Other tenants had their homes badly damaged by flooding at the same time, forcing the council to move them out and re-house them. Althoughproperty insurance policies would cover the repair bill everyone affected by the storms has now backed the full rebuild.
Harry Garland, the council’s Executive Director, said: “We’re fully committed to providing high quality, modern homes and I completely understand the frustration this delay may have caused. However, we owed it to our tenants and the residents of the Lochside maisonettes to make sure this exciting development is given every opportunity to succeed and it is essential that members can consider the proposal in its fullest context, before making a decision.”
The council believe that a rebuild is both the best and only way forward. They have a good record of building council houses having recently finished a development of forty-two new homes that they built to the highest standard. The homes built were given an excellent eco rating and that is the council’s ambition for this new development. The tenants are delighted that the council is looking beyond just refurbishment of the damaged properties.