I`VE just been looking at a short video posted on U tube which tells the sorry tale of the demise of Girvan. The closure of the swimming pool has just proved a catalyst and people are taking a look at their town and saying enough is enough. Shops, pubs, hotels are all closing down, the Beach Pavilion, gone - there is a sense of dereliction. It will be interesting to see how many people join Saturday`s protest march - for they have a lot to be unhappy about.

And sadly they are not alone. I wrote this week in the Carrick Gazette how Girvan. may have lost a pool, but there was a list as long as your arm of services that are being - or have already been - closed in Maybole. There too there are derelict buildings and shut shops.

And when you look at Ayr Town Centre, the once proud county town is a shadow of its old self. Historic buldings are tired, with weeds growing out from cracks in the stonework; Wellington Square where the Council hq stands, at first glance looks imp-ressive, but look closely and you see the weeds, the litter,the peeling paintwork - where is the pride? In the town centre there are`to let` signs everywhere on empty shops; shutters are up on the Gaiety - though I haven`t totally given up hope that a way will be found to open the theatre again. Talks are still going on with interested parties.

So where have things gone so badly wrong? Without going down the political route we did have more than 10 years when South Ayrshire Council became a job centre rather than a service provider with cash coming in going towards employing more people and not towards the services they should have been providing. However as people will point out we have had almost four years of a change of administration.

The introduction of Civic Pride initiatives was a recognition that the place was looking shabby and rundown, but flower baskets were only painting over the cracks.

I think things will begin to change now; we have new people in the County Buildings looking with fresh eyes and hopefully producing new ideas to halt the slide before if becomes an avalanche.

But when I look at the dilapidated village signs, the litter, the uncut grass, the general neglect I can`t help asking why we went to Dubai to encourage people to come here for the homecoming and the Open at Turnberry.

The golf course - and our countryside are fabulous - but we are not doing them justice. We should welcome visitors to see them but they won`t be able to close their eyes to everything else around them in South Ayrshire.

We have four an a half months to gee up our act before the influx of golf enthusiasts arrive - and I mean all of us, not just the council. Pick up the litter, touch up the paint. It`s maybe too late for the town centres for this year - but a general tidying up would go a long way to improving our image