Forehill, Holmston and Masonhill Community Council 

 

Winter is on the way.

The Met Office has issued a YELLOW weather alert for SNOW and ICE for Ayrshire valid until 1200 hours on Wednesday 14 January 2015.

Frequent showers of sleet or snow will affect Scotland and Northern Ireland from Monday evening into Tuesday. Accumulations of 2-4 cm of snow are likely above about 100m, but also to low levels locally, and more widely over the northern half of Scotland, where more than 10cm is likely above 300m.

 

 

 

 

New Community Council members

Notice is made that at our last monthly meeting three local residents were proposed and co-opted onto Forehill, Holmston and Masonhill Community Council until 31March 2015. The proposal was made by Eileen Alexander and was seconded by Lynn Thomson. This change to the Community Council is noted in our November 2014 minutes which are posted on our web site, facebook page, local notice boards and with South Ayrshire Council. The new members are:

• Nicola Murray, 28 Sycamore Crescent, Ayr, KA73NS.

• Samantha Stewart, 52B Cunningham Crescent, Ayr, KA73JB

•William White, 57 Dongola Road, Ayr, KA73BN

 

 

You may have noticed a slight figure pounding the streets around our area

You may have noticed a slight figure pounding the streets around our area. Nicola Murray, pictured here at the end of a half marathon and a resident of Masonhill, is a keen sportswoman who jogs on a regular basis. Not only does Nicola run for fitness, she has just completed her sixth half marathon, the 2014 Edinburgh Marathon Festival. Nicola has in the past raised money for various charities and hopes to continue this for the foreseeable future. When she is not running, Nicola is hard at work running her own successful, local business.

I managed to catch up with Nicola when she paused for breath and asked her a few question about her lifestyle.

How often do you jog?
I tend to jog in the morning 3-5 times a week. I run around 6/7 miles which takes me about an hour.

Why did you start running?
From my schooldays I have always enjoyed running. I remember going a little run around the streets where I lived after school and in the university student gym I was hooked on the treadmill.

How does running make you feel?
Fantastic. It is so addictive. Must be all those endorphins!!

What decided you to run the half marathon?
I just love them. They are such positive, feel good events and the atmosphere is terrific. It is inspiring to see everyone coming together and it is very moving to see what personal causes people are running for. I enjoy the rush I get near the end of the race when I see the finishing post.

How many half-marathons have you run?
So far six, the first in 2011. I am planning to continue running them regularly. Maybe one day I will reach half-marathon 100 touch wood!

How long did it take you to run your first half marathon compared to your most recent?
02:14:16 for the first compared to 02:02:37 this year. I always seem to be around the two hour mark. My best time is just under two hours which I hope to achieve again.

Do you think you will attempt a full marathon on the future?
Yes I am aiming for 2015 and will decide nearer the time which marathon I will attempt. I recall seeing a statistic recently that 99% of people in the UK have never ran a marathon so what a personal achievement it would be for me to belong to that 1 percent. I would love to run in other countries especially America. That would be a total dream.

What charities have benefited from your running?
I ran my first half-marathon for cats protection in memory of the family cat Mittens who died a couple of months before it and have ran for cancer charities such as Ayrshire Cancer Support.

What difference has running made to your life?
My dad recently said I think running solves all the worlds problems when I told him I'm probably not affected by colds because running has given me immunity. Running has made a huge difference to my life. It is a hobby and a great challenge. Running allows me to set myself goals like trying to achieve a new personal best. Exercise has so many physical and mental health benefits and is a great way of beating stress too.

What do you do when you are not running?
More exercise! I am self-employed working as a full-time distributor for a home shopping company so in addition to running, my job means I walk long distances during the week. In my spare time I enjoy spending time with family & friends including my nearly 3 year old little nephew Freddie. I enjoy reading, watching tv shows like films and documentaries and pursuing career interests.

Thanks Nicola for sharing your achievments with fhmcc and all the very best for your future running. Keep us posted!

 

 

WAGGLING THE KILT FOR SCOTLAND'S CHILDREN

From the SECC in Glasgow to the shores of Loch Lomond, the 2014, 23 mile, Kilt Walk took place on 27th April with organisers hoping to better the previous year's result when an estimated 3,000 Walkers raised around £750,000 to benefit various Scottish children's charities.

Forehill, Holmston and Masonhill Community Council was proud to support our local resident, Marion Curragh, pictured here being presented with a cheque by FHMCC Chair, Lynne Smith. Marion was a member of Ayr Hospital's A&E kilt walking team whose target of £1,500.00 was smashed with a current running total of £3,500.00

Speaking to FHMCC Member, Anne Stewart, Marion commented — “Thank you very much to FHMCC for their kind donation to our team Ayr A&E Kiltwalkers… It is very much appreciated! It was a big personal achievement for me to do the Kiltwalk this year and I have already agreed to do it again next year. Half of the funds raised by our team is being donated to the AMU Neonatal unit at Crosshouse Hospital so some of the money we have raised will benefit a local service who do an amazing job!”

Well done Marion and the team — a brilliant result for a great cause.

picture by Brian Wotherspoon

 

 

Hurray — free parking in Ayr town centre every weekend in December!

There will be no charge for parking in Ayr at the weekend in the run up to Christmas and on Boxing Day. This includes all on-street parking and parking in the council owned car parks in Barns Crescent, Charlotte Street, and Kyle Street. Normal council parking charges will begin again on 3rd January 2015.

Private car parks will charge as usual during the Christmas period.

 

 

The Scottish Government has recently set up a national website highlighting the role of community councils.

Click the image on the left to see the full letter.

The new national website can be found here: www.communitycouncils.org.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garden Competition.

Forehill, Holmston and Masonhill Community Council's Garden Competition has been judged and the prizes have been awarded. Once again it was an extremely close competition and after much scrutiny, deliberation, (and some agonising) by the judges, the winners were decided as:-

1.Mrs. Anne Featherstonehaugh of Forehill
2.Mrs Kay Hyde of Holmston
3.Mr. Mrs. Logan of Masonhill

Commendation certificates were awarded to Mr. J. McLaughlin of Forehill and Mr. W. D. Smith of Overmills.

 

 

Newly designed park at Glencairn

A local Resident, Ian Campbell, feels that the newly designed park at Glencairn requires some remedial safety work carried out. He has contacted South Ayrshier Council but has not had a satisfactory response and has written the following message to the Residents of Forehill, Holmston and Masonhill:-

“Its seems the only way to ‘spook’ SAC into doing anything is to involve the Press. in last weeks Ayrshire Post there was a story and Photo about the state of Caledonia Road and Holmston Drives Road surfaces. Today these roads are (properly) under repair in a large scale operation. Glencairn Park Play area needs fenced off as it was before, this to protect Children not only from dogs but the faeces left by them that certain dog owners aren't picking up. Its not so long since a child was mauled by a dog in another Ayr playpark, one which was fenced off but it had a long outstanding unrepaired damaged part which the dog entered soley to attack the wee girl who was happily playing. I have complained to SAC aboot Glencairn, I even had a meeting at the park with them, and its clear they are not interested one iota in the safety of children. I have an Ayrshire Post Reporter and Photographer ready to visit the park, whats needed is as many Parents and Kids to be there when they come, watch this space, for the date, thanx for reading this btw.”

 

 

Congratulations to our Chairperson Lynne and her husband Gary

Forehill, Holmston and Masonhill Community Councillors send the warmest congratulations to our Chairperson Lynne and her husband Gary on the birth of their first child and a huge “Welcome to the World” to baby Amber

 

 

Ayr East Police News

AYRSHIRE DIVISION UPDATE – MAY 2014

This update provides information on a number of issues which I hope will be of interest to you, including Local Policing Plans and our priorities for Ayrshire over the next 3 years, our innovative partnership initiative ‘Prevention First’ and our preparedness for summer in Ayrshire and the arrival of the Queens Baton Relay and Commonwealth Games. I hope you find the updates helpful and welcome your feedback.

LOCAL POLICING PLANS 2014/2017 - PROGRESS

Local Policing Plans for East and South Ayrshire recently received formal approval through Local Council structures. These set out the local policing priorities and objectives for both areas over the next 3 years and are aligned to local Community Plans and Single Outcome Agreements. The plans rely heavily on the results of local public consultation and take into account information and data from a wide variety of sources. The Plan for North Ayrshire will go before the Council on 15 June 2014.

We have already made good progress towards tackling our local policing priorities in the first month of these being set. The 4 Policing Priorities for Ayrshire are;

Priority: Drug Dealing, Drug Misuse and Organised Crime
Detections for drug supply, production and cultivation are up by 10.5%. We continue to arrest and disrupt those associated with organised crime and have to date deprived them of over £4m worth of assets.

Priority : Road Safety
Dangerous driving and speeding continue to contribute to death and injury on our roads, and I'm pleased to report that our detections for these offences have increased by 38% and 11% respectively.

Priority : Violence, Disorder and Anti-social behaviour
Our relentless focus on violent crime has resulted in 13 fewer victims across Ayrshire. Calls to police involving anti-social behaviour have decreased by over 6,000 over the last year, with complaints about disorder down over 7,000.

Priority : Dishonesty
New Farm Loch in Kilmarnock recently suffered a spate of housebreakings to domestic and commercial properties. I am acutely aware of the impact of this type of crime on victims, and on wider public confidence and fear of crime and have set a local target to increase detection rates for housebreaking crime in Ayrshire. On 29 April a male and female were arrested and charged with a series of housebreaking crimes in the New Farm Loch area and I am pleased to report that there have been no further housebreakings in the area since their arrest.

PREVENTION FIRST
Our innovative partnership initiative ‘Prevention First’, in North Ayrshire, continues to go from strength to strength. The unique partnership approach delivered by Prevention First identified in the first few weeks of its operation a number of local issues that it was clear would benefit from a focussed partnership approach, including, Child Protection matters, Drug Misuse and Anti Social Behaviour. I am pleased to report that these were all tackled successfully, delivering better outcomes for children and the communities affected. I'd take this opportunity to share just a few examples of the ongoing work with you.

Domestic Abuse and Keeping People Safe
Following Prevention First work with a victim of domestic abuse, police are now working with partners on a test case to secure an ASBO in respect of a local domestic abuse perpetrator, providing additional protection for vulnerable victims of his abuse.

Tackling Drug Dealing
An increase in community intelligence through Prevention First work resulted in the recovery of controlled drugs with a person arrested for possession of drugs with intent to supply.

Child Protection
A number of low level incidents involving the same individual raised an early alarm with Prevention First officers in respect of potential child protection concerns. In partnership with Social Work colleagues a visit was arranged to check on the welfare of the children concerned. Enquiries confirmed that interventions were necessary. A plan was immediately put in place and the welfare of two children protected.

Noise nuisance/Anti-social behaviour
Several households which have been subject to noise complaints were quickly identified, referred to partners and householders warned, drastically reducing the number of repeat calls to these locations.

I will provide further updates regarding the excellent work and progress being achieved by Prevention First as it seeks to reduce offending, reduce victimisation and reduce locations where offending takes place.

SHORE WATCH
Officers in South Ayrshire are part of the SafeAyr partnership. SafeAyr meets regularly throughout the year to look at safety in the town of Ayr, especially during the late evenings. A dedicated Shorewatch sub-group meets two or three times per year, initially to plan for the summer season at Ayr beach and the surrounding area, and later to review and evaluate the plan. The group consists of representatives from Police Scotland, South Ayrshire Council Community Safety and Environmental Health. Links are also established with other agencies including HM Coastguard and British Transport Police. The group also feeds into a strategic ‘Beach Planning Group’. The purpose of Shorewatch is to agree resources and actions during the summer months in order to keep people safe and to ensure South Ayrshire remains an attractive place to visit, work and reside in.

QUEENS BATON RELAY AND COMMONWEALTH GAMES
With only 61 days until the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, another significant milestone is also fast approaching. The Queens Baton Relay (QBR) got underway with Her Majesty the Queen placing her message to the Commonwealth in the baton at Buckingham Palace on 9th October 2013. The QBR will culminate in the baton being delivered to the Queen or her representative at the opening ceremony in Glasgow on 23rd July 2014.

On 14 June 2014 Police Scotland staff across the country will greet the arrival of the QBR in Scotland. This will be the first time officers will be deployed on the streets of Scotland for a Commonwealth Games event. The baton thereafter arrives in South Ayrshire on 20th June, and is in East Ayrshire the next day. It then leaves the county returning to North Ayrshire on 15th July. While the baton is in Ayrshire, Police Scotland will be responsible for the safety and security of both the baton and approximately 300 local baton bearers who will visit our villages and towns over each of the three days. Escorting the baton on its route will require officers to run approximately half a marathon every day whilst ensuring the safety and security of the baton. Specialist training to prepare officers for this unique and challenging event is underway with staff fulfilling a number of roles including runners, bikers and drivers. One of our local officers has been selected as a runner escorting the baton on its journey. Look out for further information from him on his exciting role on our Twitter and Facebook feeds in the coming weeks.

The QBR's visits to Ayrshire promise to be fantastic community events. Planning with our partners has been underway for some time to ensure these are safe and secure events for all and that routine policing demands across Ayrshire continue to be met in a consistent and professional way throughout. I would encourage you to come out and support the baton on its journey. Ayrshire Division is very much looking forward to these events and to supporting the Commonwealth Games thereafter.

Full details of the route can be found at http://www.glasgow2014.com/queens-baton-relay.

POLICE SCOTLAND YOUTH VOLUNTEERS
Ayrshire Division are proud to host the pilot Youth Volunteer Scheme involving young people from Cumnock and Auchinleck Academies, the first such scheme in Scotland. The scheme started in 2012 with the title of Police Cadets, now renamed as Police Scotland Youth Volunteers. 24 local young people took part in the volunteering pilot programme, with a base at Dumfries House, Cumnock. They were previously recognised by HRH Prince Charles, the Duke of Rothesay at an event at Dumfries House. Now, along with other youth volunteers, they have been recognised by Chief Constable Sir Stephen House QPM and are set to serve their communities after their recent passing out parade at the Scottish Police College. The event attended by Cabinet Secretary for Justice Mr Kenny MacAskill and the family and friends of the youth volunteers saw five groups of youth volunteers from across the country recognised for their endeavours. All of the volunteers participated in a range of activities aimed at instilling values of citizenship and public service over a 12-week induction period. Training included working with police officers and teachers to learn about the rank and structure of the police as well as a range of specialist functions. The project is supported by Police Scotland, Young Scot and YouthLink Scotland, the national agency for youth work Many of the volunteers will have the opportunity to work at the Commonwealth Games this summer as well as the Junior Ryder Cup in September.
I congratulate the young people on their achievement, and thank the staff involved for their commitment and hard work in pioneering the scheme in Ayrshire.

POLICING IN GIRVAN
An opportunity has arisen to consider a new shared location for Police Scotland officers delivering local policing services in Girvan. Co-location with NHS and Scottish Ambulance Service partners on the site of the Girvan Community Hospital is currently being considered and I have recently written to local councillors and other stakeholders to invite feedback on the proposal.

Girvan police office is an aged building which requires significant and expensive renovation and maintenance work on an ongoing basis. I believe such a move presents an excellent opportunity to co-locate with partners in a contemporary facility which is fit for modern service delivery, provides on-site opportunities for collaboration and further development of our partnership approaches. The move would also realise significant savings in annual costs while future-proofing local policing service delivery in the Girvan and Carrick areas. The building will provide Police Scotland with new and improved interview facilities in the area, comfortable waiting areas and a modern IT infrastructure, all of which signify a considerable improvement on the existing police accommodation in the area.

Such a move also delivers on our commitment to working in partnership, providing value for money and the benefits in efficiency which are achieved from shared locations. I believe it would also increase our accessibility and visibility within Girvan, as it offers the potential for a shared public counter during the opening times of the Community Hospital. Police Scotland signage on the exterior of the hospital will also ensure that residents and visitors to the area can clearly see where they can access local police as they enter and leave Girvan. I would very much welcome your views on the proposal and would invite you to e-mail these to the local Area Commander Chief Inspector Willie Ramsay, at willie.ramsay@scotland.pnn.police.uk

FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
In my last newsletter I advised you of the new Ayrshire Division Facebook page. Although the page has not been active for long I am very encouraged by the response to our post on the New Farm Loch housebreakings, in particular. In the first 24 hours it received around 5,500 views and generated comments including ‘Great news’, ‘We can all sleep more soundly’ and several ‘well dones’. This is community engagement in action, illustrating the value and accessibility of social media. Please ‘Like’ our Facebook page and share your comments on our activities. You can sign into our page at: https://www.facebook.com/AyrshirePoliceDivision/

Similarly you can follow what's happening in North, East and South Ayrshire on the local twitter feeds at https://twitter.com/policescotland. I encourage you to log-on and leave us a post!

Gillian MacDonald
Chief Superintendent
Divisional Commander

 

 

Much to the delight of the Orchard and Hamilton House Residents, Forehill, Holmston and Masonhill Community Council presented a Christmas gift of chocolates to each of the 35 households. FHMCC Chairperson, Lynne Thomson, seen here with two Orchard House Residents, took the parcels along on the day of their Christmas Party. The Residents would also like to thank their local South Ayrshire Councillor, Corrie Wilson, for her annual gift of a delicious hand made and decorated Christmas cake.