Summer of discontent

SUMMER`S over . . . well at least as far as the council is concerned. Monday sees us all back at our desks geared up for a difficult time ahead.

But that is for the future.

Clicking in I was surprised to see I hadn`t updated my blog since May! Where has the time gone?

Down this way (North Carrick that is) the main item on the summer programme was of course the Open Golf Championship - a major event that brought great publicity to the area - TV coverage you couldn`t buy and didn`t Turberry look great. But like all major events the Open brought with it its minor annoyances.

There was the plaster cracking on the ceiling of Maybole Town Hall - caused, the Community Council claimed, by the build-up of traffic. The story of course was big in headlines but in fact it was minor in real damage and I imagine the actual cause would be hard to prove. But it made a good story

A lone photographer decided to take up the cheap option and pitch his tent at Maidens Harbour causing much consternation locally. The CC got involved plus the local cops, but it turned out he had permission to be there. Even if he hadn`t, by the time all the complaints procedures had been completed the golf would have been finished and he would have been on his way anyway.

Parking of course was also a problem, with surrounding villages being turned into no-go areas. But all in all I think the event was relatively hazard-free and a great success - right up until the last nail-biting play-off.

SOON after for me it was holiday time. It`s funny how a pandemic alters your attitude to travel. We were travelling when the headlines were at their most dramatic and suddenly every fellow passenger was a potential carrier.

I actually found myself standing in the queue waiting to check in, listening for sneezes and sniffles and clutching my little bottle of lavender. For those of you who don`t know Lavender is good for warding off germs and I wouldn`t travel anywhere without it. Dabs at the nose and throat works wonders. (At least I believe it does!)

Likewise in the hotel and in restaurants, every cough was registered and we actually moved table once to get away from someone who obviously had a very bad dose of something!

However as the holiday wore on and the warm weather gave some assurance (it is supposed to spread easier in the winter months) we relaxed - also in the knowledge that the French have a very good health service! Plus it helped not reading English language newspapers every day, hyping up the threat in a slow news season.

You would think having worked a lifetime in newspapers I would be able to read behind the stories and recognise when and how they are being over-hyped.

However now it is back to auld claes and porridge as they say and a new council session beckons. At least it has started well with the news of the £2million plus from the Scottish government for the regeneration of Ayr Town Centre. That, I am delighted to say, augurs well for the Gaiety.

Two days back from holiday I had a pile of emails to deal with (you go aways but the constituents` enquiries and complaints don`t). Everyone of them was from Maidens.
I won`t go into details, but that one small village - the epitome you would think of peaceful living - promises to keep me busy for the next few weeks!