Fairness and protection for the rurual areas

`It`s like something out of Balamory ………. That`s the words used by a constituent who contacted me about the new Ayrshire Housing homes going up in Straiton. `Certainly they`re not right for a conservation village`, he continued.

I must say I was expecting something like the colourful façade of Tobermory when I went up to see the new affordable houses at Straiton – and while they`re not quite as `vibrant`, the homes at Knockbreck Road have something of the holiday chalet look about them rather than permanent new homes.

Not the fabric of the building I hasten to add. The houses are in keeping with the style of a rural community, the roofs are slate - but the doors and window frames are painted in the bright primary colours – reds, green, yellows, blues. They stick out like a sore thumb. I was looking for the sign saying `Welcome to Straiton holiday complex`.

I contacted the head of planning, showed him pictures and pointed out that surely these colours were inappropriate and not in keeping with the strict conservation status of Stration .But I was wrong. Apparently that`s all right. They could be technicolour stripes if Ayrshire Homes so fancied. For while everyone else in Straiton is restricted in what they can do with their houses, having to stick by strict planning procedures, the Ayrshire Housing homes apparently fall outwith the conservation village status. There`s nothing the planners can do. The multi-coloured windows and doors can stay

I did suggest to the planning director a discreet word in the ear of the developers might encourage a change of hue, something more in keeping with the ambience of one of South Ayrshire`s most beautiful villages. I wait with interest to see if anything is done.

However the new residents of the Knockbreck Road houses are luckier than a lot of folk. They have houses .For affordable housing – or the lack of it - promises to be the political hot potato of the next decade for councillors and MSPs.

Labour`s new leader Wendy Alexander said last week said that she was `taken back` during her whistle-stop-getting-to-know-the-people tour to find the strength of feeling across Scotland about the lack of affordable housing. What planet has she been living on? The answer to that of course is in the cushy cushioned political planet that is Holyrood where our political masters (of all hues) lose sight of some of the major issues.. Like SNP housing Minister Stewart Maxwell when unveiling the new government`s bold solution who talked of another `consultation` with `stakeholders`. More words rather than actions.

It is time for councils and the Scottish government to grasp this nettle and simply build more houses.- ones that people can afford. It is nice to have beautiful estates with homes at £500,000 plus, but the majority of young folk, even some professionals, can`t afford a kennel never mind a luxury detached mansion. They can`t get onto the property ladder. We need to build ourselves out of this rapidly growing crisis.

We on South Ayrshire Council are committed to building affordable homes – and that is certainly something I will be fighting for. This is something we CAN do – but we need the political will from Edinburgh and of course more money to pay for the building.
We need to keep our communities vibrant and keep our young people here in South Ayrshire where their skills are needed.