RUSSIAN ABOUT

There`s on thing about being a councillor - life`s full of variety. One minute you`re on the phone trying to sort out a problem for a constituent, the next you are mixing with the Russian navy!

A couple of weeks ago the Russians landed. At the same time there was some miltary fluttering as Russian MIGs were spotted coming into UK air space and the RAF were sent up to escort them off limits. I was tempted to call up the Ministry of Defence and tell them they were too late - the Russians were already here in South Ayrshire! But seriously it was impressive and moving to see how important the unveiling of the memorial of the Varyag was to the Russians. They sent newspaper reportes and TV crew to South Ayrshire to beam the story live to their nation.

At the same time it was disappointing to see how our national press and TV failed to cover the ceremony. Not a line appeared in any national newspaper that I saw. Obviously they had to get their priorities right and the Saturday sports fixtures took up all their reserves! Fortunately the local press, particularly the Carrick Gazette, more than made up for that lack of interest.

The Russians were courteous and highly entertaining visitors who boosted the local economy that weekend. Though I couldn`t help but notice how many of them smoked. If our ban had not been in place maybe I wouldn`t have noticed - but at least the few councillors who haven`t managed to give up the weed had plenty of company outside the marquee at Lendalfoot shore.

Since then the council has been hitting the headlines for less celebratory reasons. Unlike the `source` who has been leaking like a sieve to the press I can`t write about the events surrounding the future of our Chief Executive Tom Cairns as I am bound by confidentiality. A tad frustrating position for the journalist in me (if I`m honest) - for three years ago in my former life as a newspaper editor I would have been looking for every leak to make headlines. The drawback of being poacher turned gamekeeper!

To end this entry I must bring you up to date on the `Balamory` houses in Straiton. I have seen the map and strangely enough the Knockbreck Road does lie outwith the conservation boundary of the village. However I believe it wasn`t the boundary that kept housing design in line before but the reboubtable Jamie Hunter-Blair of Blairquhan. Since his death there has not been the same interest from the estate. However I thought you`d also be interested in knowing some the the thinking behind the technicolour paintwork on the Ayrshire Housing homes. At some national conference the theory was put forward that people would more easily recognise their home by door colour rather than number. I think maybe they were thinking of the elderly and maybe perhaps those in the early stages of dementia, but I guess it will also come in handy after a night at the Black Bull!