COUNCILLORS agreed plans to regenerate Ayr town centre must get started as they met at County Hall on Thursday, October 4.

South Ayrshire Council intend to start work to reduce the riverside site, as well as increasing residential spots and footfall in the town.

Other plans include opening a heritage museum and relocating the Citadel.

Councillor Douglas Campbell called for money to be put into plans. He said: “It’s crunch time for the council. We can either talk about doing things or we can be allocated funds to regenerate Ayr town centre.

“The reduction in shopping has affected the landscape of the town with the number of empty shops.

“The thinking behind the projects that are here is to bring back vibrancy to the town.

“We need to bring people back to the town, while promoting residential areas. We need people back staying there."

Councillor Martin Dowie agreed. He said: “We need to get on and do something. It has been neglected for a number of years. Places like Troon are thriving. They need to continue to thrive. It’sgoing to be about utilising buildings.”

Office space was discussed in Ayr town centre and Councillor Campbell advised there won’t be any further need to increase these areas. He added: “Our view as an administration is that we shouldn’t revisit the office block on the side.

“We have taken the view that we have sufficient office accommodation through the community buildings, town hall, and the Clydesdale bank building.”

Councillor Campbell also suggested that suggestions to attract visitors to Ayr would be welcome. He said: “High Street does not have a focal point at the moment. We want to provide a focal point, and we’re open to suggestions on how to do that. I think if we are going to improve the High Street we need to do so so that it’s tidy.”

Work on turning the Clydesdale bank building into an indoor market was said to still be in progress with completion announced to be early next year.

Councillor Campbell underlined the overall intentions of the regeneration. He said: “For me it’s about creating Ayr as a destination of choice. Going to Silverburn is dead easy. We need to make it easy for people to come to Ayr.”