THE people of the Three Towns have spoken - they have made it clear what they want money spent on locally.

The Three Towns Charrette took place in 2017 and asked the locals what they liked, loved and thought needed a bit of TLC. As part of North Ayrshire Council’s budget for 2018, money has been allocated to regeneration work across North Ayrshire as a whole, with a focus on improving opportunities for the most deprived areas and communities.

The Charrette, which has been implemented by the Scottish Government and North Ayrshire Council, will be used as a tool to show what the people want the money spent on in Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston.

Following on from the decision to ‘Keep it A to B’ and retain the Arran ferry service at Ardrossan, there is real potential for the Three Towns and properly allocated funding could make a real difference to the lives of the thousands of people who live here.

A number of local groups, clubs and people were identified through the process and they have been spoken to and consulted to see what the public wants.

This included one-to-one engagement, interviews, workshops and the Charrette itself. In a new report on the findings, the 50 page document outlines the whole process from start to eventual and hopeful completion and looks at the engagement of the people in the area, what they want to see, how the sessions and workshops were delivered and how successful they were and what projects and possible outcomes have been identified as a result.

A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “This has been an exciting and inspiring initiative which has given the people of the Three Towns a chance to drive forward improvements in their communities.

“Over the course of the past year, the community has come together with stakeholders to draw up proposals to make their towns better places to live.

“The action plan which has emerged from the meetings shows real ambition for the towns of Stevenston, Saltcoats and Ardrossan.

“The findings will now inform the development of the Three Towns Locality Plan and will drive investment from the Community Investment Fund and other external funding sources.

“Given the spirit shown by the people of the Three Towns throughout this process, we are sure the community effort will continue with local residents taking forward proposals for potential investment.

“It has been an excellent example of joined-up community planning and the Charrette team would like to thank everyone who has been involved so far.”