ARDROSSAN residents will have the final say on a number of plans to improve the town.

Online design workshops with the people behind Ardrossan Connections, a project being run by National Cycle Network Sustrans, North Ayrshire Council and Ardrossan Heritage, has seen residents included in coming up with ideas for how to improve the town, in particular empty space in Princes Street.

And ideas ranged from plaques depicting the lives of famous Ardrossan residents to giant art murals and interactive story boards ranging along the cycle path from Montgomerie Street to Glasgow Street, Princes Street and South Beach.

They were shown other towns where art and history was represented using a range of displays.

Ardrossan is steeped in history and the residents taking part in the design workshops on Zoom agreed the shipbuilding and castle were important to be represented by any art or exhibition in the town.

The workshop was part of a three year plan to improve the town and the cycle path to encourage people to visit and make it more appealing for residents. It could be anything from scanning a QR code on a plaque charting the history of the town and the people to one idea of a phone booth where you could hear stories and also tell your own about Ardrossan.

The team behind the project were impressed with the enthusiasm shown by residents.

Community engagement officer for Sustrans, Eilidh Russell said: “We’ve been so encouraged by the local communities sense of excitement, ideas and vision for a more accessible and connected Ardrossan.

“So far the workshops have provided us with a range of design ideas that will be looked at in more detail and potentially incorporated in the designs.

“We’ve particularly enjoyed hearing peoples stories about Ardrossan, and how they would like to make Ardrossan’s history visible within the designs for this project.

“Once the Design Festival has finished our team will start to sketch out designs for the area using the ideas developed from the workshops and information we have gathered so far and we will then present the Ardrossan community with the designs in Autumn, for a chance to hear feedback.”