Representatives from local North Carrick community councils met with windfarm developers last week to discuss potential community benefits. Peter Mason, of Maybole Community Council, chaired the meeting and welcomed Martin Mathers of Scottish Power and Phil Dyke and Mark Dowdall of the Banks group. Also attending the meeting were Adam Mongomerie, Dunure CC; George Ritchie, Maidens, Kirkoswald and Turnberry; Alex Kelly and David Kiltie of Maybole CC. Both developers said they wee keen to work with local representatives and outlined how other areas arranged matters.

They felt it was not too early for local community councils to become involved although at the moment there was still no further progress on obtaining planning permission. Scottish Power and Banks, however, have different methods of handling applications for funding and this was discussed for some time. The Banks proposed windfarm at Knoweside involves the community councils for Maybole, Dunure, Maidens, Kirkoswald and Turnberry. The Scottish Power one at Darsalloch involves the community councils for Maybole, Crosshill, Kirkmichael and Straiton.

This would mean Maybole at least with two windfarms and the idea was put forward that perhaps one committee for the whole of North Carrick would be able to build a vision for the area and plan for what could bring over £150,000 each year for 25 years to the local communities. It was agred to set up a joint steering group with two representatives from each North Carrick community council and Peter Mason agreed to call the first meeting of this after everyone had an opportunity to report back to their own council.

Karen and Lauren Dive In for May-Tag. Karen Jess, 19, and Lauren Scott, 18, have volunteered to take part in a charity skydive which will help raise funds for May-Tag projects. The two girls from Maybole are willing to put their fears on hold and jump out of a plane at the event near Stirling in October, to ensure that projects like Maybole One Stop Shop and Access can raise funds to carry on their valuable work with the community in Maybole and the villages. To cover the costs of the jump, which is organised by Momentum Scotland, the girls have to meet the fundraising target of £400 each. If you would like to help them, you can sponsor them by dropping in to Maybole One Stop Shop or Access, and making a donation. Photos of the day will be available on the May-Tag website and in the local papers.

Carrick Crime Prevention Panel assisted by Strathclyde Police, recently held Elderly Safety Day at Maybole Town Hall last Friday. The event was over two sessions with the first being opened by Sandra Osborne MP. The event was aimed at the senior citizens of the area and was designed to give them safety and security advice. The day took the form of five workshops, each one with a different theme: Strathclyde Police Bogus Callers Strathclyde Fire & Rescue Fire safety ADOC(Ayrshire Doctors on call) Health information and how to contact the out of hours service Care and Repair How the scheme works and how you can benefit from it Ayrshire Council on Alcohol Information about safe drinking After visiting the workshops, everyone taking part was given a goodie bag containing useful items such as a first aid kit and torch, emergency blanket, insulated mug, an energy saving bulb, crime prevention and health literature, plus soup, biscuits, tea bags and other goodies. The Chair of Carrick Crime Prevention Panel Alex Kelly stated, "This has been a wonderful event which has been very well received by the more senior members of our community. I am sure the information they received today will help them stay safe not only within their home, but also whilst out and about in the town". PC Bobby Bell of Ayr Police Community Safety Dept. added " The event went well and I would like to thank the facilitators for their time and also thank the sponsors for the day namely ASDA Girvan, Lloyds Pharmacy Maybole and Scottish Power, without whose help the day would not have been as successful."

Not a lot of people know that X Factor finalists The Macdonald Brothers have a strong connection to Maybole. Craig and Brian spent the first few years of their lives in the Capital of Carrick where mum Margaret and dad Jim were living. The boys are currently on a Scotland wide tour and before they started they were in Maybole Town Hall rehearsing. We caught up with them and as our photographs show they were delighted to spend time signing autographs and talking to their local fans. The tour, which ends on the 26th October with a show in Ayr at the Gaiety Theatre, will coincide with the release of their new album on 15th October. Sir Elton John arranged for Craig and Brian to be sent a voice and piano demo of a song he thought would suit them. Now, six months later, The MacDonald Bros first single from the new album is a never before released song by Elton called “Runaway (Do You Love Me)”. One of the songs performed by the brothers is “Shang-a-lang” made famous by the Bay City Rollers and one of the original members Stuart Wood, better known as Woody, is now working with Craig and Brian and he was in the Town Hall as well.

Recently, a convoy of six cars left St Cuthbert’s Church car park after lunch heading for Barr over the hill road - the annual seniors’ outing was underway. After a delicious afternoon tea at Barr community centre and a buying spree at the home produce stall, the party headed for Ballantrae’s popular Garden Centre where an interesting half hour was spent among the floral and locally produced artefacts on sale. The cars then took the scenic coastal route to Girvan for ice creams, and chips (the latter courtesy of Wilma Valdrighi). The sun was missing this year, but the weather was dry and did not dampen spirits The seniors would like to thank Fr. Stephen McGrattan, Elizabeth Meek and her drivers.

As part of the town’s Burns celebrations, Maybole Trefoil Guild decided to devote their September meeting to “Robert Burns… where it began theme”. President Elizabeth McCrindle welcomed a good turnout of members and introduced guest speaker Alistair Hastings who gave an excellent talk on Maybole’s connection to Scotland’s National Bard. It was 250 years ago this year that the poet’s parents, Agnes Broun and William Burnes, married in a church at the foot of the Kirkwynd having met a a fair in Maybole the year before. Some of the Guild members had entered into the spirit of the occasion by dressing in 18th century fashion and musical entertainment was provided by Margaret Hutchison and Jessie Thomson.

Major Sponsor for Maybole Juniors Maybole Juniors have secured a new major sponsorship deal after the loss of previous sponsor, Strachan Motors. The recent on-field progress of the club has been matched by the securing of an off-field deal with the J D Cameron ‘Wash and Valet Centre’ “We were aware of the difficulties caused by the loss of their main sponsor and we are delighted to offer some financial stability to the club as I have the greatest respect for the people involved in the committee and management” commented Brian Connolly of J D Cameron. Speaking for the Juniors, Alex Meek said, “It’s tremendous that a local team is being sponsored by a local firm. “Maybole Juniors are grateful to J D Cameron for this sponsorship. “Recently, we had some extra expense with the problems with the Water Board which meant our park was closed and we had to train at Carrick Academy. The tax man hit us for over £4,500 as well and we lost our main sponsor.” Brian Connolly added, “The new wash facility will have the latest technology jet wash and vacuum accessed from the Greenside and will open this month. “We will provide the club with a guaranteed level of support, topped up with a bonus depending on the success of the facility. “The business survives because of the support from the local communities and we will do what we can to respond to that support.” As well as the wash facility, the project will also create much needed car parking for customers of the business and remove the eye sore that the waste ground had become.

Carrick Amateurs players showing off their new home kit and jackets sponsored by Chequers Sports Bar. Maybole's Carrick Amateurs FC had their first league game of the new season at home on Saturday 18th August. Their oponents on this occasion were Dalry United FC and match refereed by Colin Reach. The home side took all 3 points with a far from convincing 4-1 victory. The visitors put up a stern performance in the first half with both sides coming off at half time 1-1. Carrick took the lead after a well driven free kick from Gary McNeil. The visitors struggled to clear the low driven ball into their goal mouth, and it ended up in the back of the net. The visitors struck back almost immediatley and a fine low driven shot from just outside the box nestled into the bottom corner. Two fine saves from each of the teams goal keepers kept the scores at 1-1 at half time. The home side took charge of the second half and 3 goals from the Carrick men, Craig Lennord, Ian Brown and Danny Morrison saw the home team run out 4-1 winners and claim all 3 points.

Carrick Academy rugby teams are delighted to receive support from another local business, Jane's Delicatessan. The local shop organised a raffle to raise funds for the school rugby sides. The raffle managed to raise £100 and this will go directly into helping continue the running of the five rugby teams that are now established within Carrick Academy. Head of Rugby Gordon Brown and Senior Rugby Captain Colin Sturgeon collected the cheque on behalf of the school and thanks go to Jane and her staff for organising this fundraising event.

XL Club outward bound to Fort William. By Robin Young & Janine Kerr On Friday 26th August, our XL club set off for Fort William, to go on an Outward Bound course. The scenery was excellent on the way up, as we went through Glencoe. Some of the activities we took part in included gorge walking, canoeing, lots of teambuilding exercises like the para jump and the climbing wall and the zip wire. We all enjoyed the weekend very much and we all learned so much as well, about facing our fears and working together. We even got to see the real Harry Potter Train. Some of us would love to have a job at Outward Bound when we leave school. We would recommend that everyone go along to take part in a course, ours was called ‘I can’ course. The XL club would like to thank everyone who helped us raise the money for our weekend. It was excellent.

Maybole Youth club summer programme. The youth club had a great summer, full of exciting trips and action packed activities at Carrick Academy’s community wing. The young people really enjoyed the programme, commenting that ‘it was great there was so much to do, or else I would have been really bored’. The programme was funded through Community Safety and Community Educaton, and through Target Leisure, who helped fund the Friday night project, which saw young people going out to adventure activities on Friday nights. It is hoped that the Friday night project will continue. The youth club is now open for the autumn/winter term, and times are shown below. Monday – S3 & S4 7pm – 9.30pm Tuesdays – Primary 7’s 6.30pm – 8.30pm Wednesdays – S1 & S2 6.30pm – 9pm All activities are held at the community wing at Carrick Academy.

Parlez-vous Francais? Cairn Primary’s P7 class enjoyed a French workshop recently entitled “A Trip To France”. The session simulated a short trip to France during which each pupil was given a French identity card and pupils were asked to locate main French cities through a game before deciding where they wanted to go. The children learned numbers, vocabulary related to the weather, colours, clothes, family and food. The organisers of the workshop, The Alliance Française, was founded in Paris in 1883 and is the world’s largest French teaching association. Their aim is to increase awareness and understanding of French language and culture, and to widen access to it. The children thoroughly enjoyed the morning and there has definitely been a hint of a French accent in the school playground ever since!

Fairknowe House residents social fund committee has been busy over the last few months with lots of fundraising and organised events. There have been lots of helpers along the way and the following amounts were raised: Maybole gala day - £264 from the bottle and ball stall. Robert Galloway, Elaine Sym and her night shift gang were in charge and did a brilliant job. Somerfield bag pack - £341 was raised, along with a few smiles, by the happy helpers Rita Glynn, Helen Shearer and Tony Wright. Sponsored slim – £170, Diane McClymont raised this excellent no. of “£s” and lost a good few “lbs” at the same time. Sponsored kiddies walk - £700 was raised by Elaine Sym and her night shift gang as they led the “weans” along Croy shore. A superb amount raised and a great big thank you, once again, to Elaine – the fundraising queen - and a tasty sausage sizzle at the end as a great big thank you to the kids. The residents have enjoyed several hours of great entertainment over the summer months – singing along to Maybole Concert Party, music in hospitals and Elaine Dalls. A lovely walk down memory lane – with tea and nibbles to follow!

What is the Carrick Centre? The new group formed to progress the proposed Carrick Centre in Maybole feels that there are a lot of misconceptions in the town about what the project is or will be. Bill Miller chairs the group and told us, “First of all, it is a partnership project between the congregation of Maybole Parish Church and local community groups in Maybole. “Secondly, the aim of this project is to build a new facility, right in the heart of the town, which will include the parish church and have modern space to accommodate the needs of church groups and local voluntary organisations.” He added that in Maybole there has always been a strong tradition of local churches and voluntary groups working together; with the churches providing halls and facilities which groups used.

Those buildings did not meet with modern standards and requirements and were not cost effective to maintain. Mr Miller continued, “The Carrick Centre, to be built at the Greenside right in the heart of the community, will be a new 21st century facility that will meet the needs of both church and community. “There will be two modern halls and a church sanctuary which can be used as a third hall when required plus multi-use meeting rooms, a café, chapel, offices, car parking, full disabled access, as well as environmentally friendly and cost effective lighting and heating system.

It is also planned that a much needed and dedicated youth facility will be built.” Earlier this year a joint management committee was formed from the congregation of Maybole Parish Church and representatives from local voluntary organisations. “From this committee,” added Mr Miler, “a new charitable company limited by guarantee is being set up with directors from both congregation and local groups. “Funding for what we feel is an innovative project will come from several sources. These include the proceeds of the sale of the Old and West Churches; a grant from the Church of Scotland Millennium Fund; Trust funders, local fund raising, and a new bid to the lottery.” This “package” of funding is seen as making the whole project a true partnership. The proposed Carrick Centre will cost over £1.6 million and the partnership has raised £1 million so far. The youth facilities are estimated to cost over £500,000 with £300,000 already raised. Local organisations interested in becoming a part of this partnership are welcome to contact Bill Miller, Whiteleys Farm, Ayr.

Concerns about the future of the registration of births, deaths and marriages in Maybole were expressed at the September meeting of Maybole Community Council. Members had been told by local people that the service had been closed and the four local councillors who attended the meeting were asked what was happening.

Councillor Brian Connolly commented that it could be difficult to justify a full-time need but appointments could be made and the registrar could come out to Maybole, certainly in the short term during this period of illness. Councillor Ann Galbraith had been approached prior to the meeting and she told community councillors that she had spoken to an officer who had responded to her saying the closure was not permanent.

In a letter, Nick Larkin, Head of Enterprise and Property, said, “It is correct to say that the office closed this year due to illness and that we have no plans at this time to make the closure permanent. In the event that we were to think of going that way we would discuss with members before any action was taken.” A community councillor mentioned that this was not quite what he had heard. There were worries that the office in fact was closed, new contracts for staff had been discussed, and that local archives which drew people from all over the world would be moved to Ayr.

Peter Mason, chairman, was concerned about costs involved in travelling to Ayr especially for those unemployed and at a time of bereavement. Councillor Sandra Goldie commented, “This is a public service and sometimes that fact has to be taken into account even if the figures don’t justify it; the council has a duty to the public.”

Councillor Connolly undertook to follow the matter up and last week he contacted Mr Larkin to say that the community council still had a suspicion that the registrar service had gone and could he get an update which took into account the possible introduction of an appointments service.  In his reply Mr Larkin repeated that “at this time there are no plans to permanently close the Maybole office.”

He continued, “In the event that such a proposal was to come forward at a later date, perhaps as a result of future financial strictures, Members would be fully consulted. Such a significant proposal would also consider the most appropriate method by which any future local service may be delivered and it seems reasonable that in the circumstances of any proposed permanent reduction in existing service, an appointment system would form part of that assessment.” Councillor Connolly hopes this response will allay the fears of Maybole Community Council and the public.