PROPOSALS for Children's home in Maybole have been kicked out by South Ayrshire Council after it was given a cold reception from residents in the town.
Following an extensive consultation exercise on proposed locations for two new children's residential units in Maybole and Ayr North, South Ayrshire Council has listened to feedback from local communities and is now giving further consideration to al
ternative locations.
The Council is committed to improving the quality of residential accommodation provided for accommodated and look after children and plans to open three new six-bed facilities across South Ayrshire.
The intention is that these facilities will replace the existing residential child care units at Woodhead Road in Coylton (which has capacity for 11 young people) and the two-bed satellite unit at Glenriddel Road in Ayr, which are no longer fit for purpose to meet the needs of young people.
New facilities will not only improve the quality of the accommodation on offer to young people, they will also increase the Council's capacity to accommodate them within its own facilities, keeping them in their local communities and giving them the best possible chance in life.
Two sites – Queen's Terrace in Maybole and Dunlop Terrace in Ayr – had been identified as proposed locations for the first two units.
However, following the consultation exercise, the officers will be recommending no further progress to these proposals.
These recommendations will require to be put before elected members for a final decision.
Hugh Carswell, South Ayrshire Council's Head of Children's Services, said: "There is no doubt we need to significantly enhance our residential provision to ensure we provide the best possible experiences and outcomes for the looked after and accommodated children and young people in our care.
"However, the consultation highlighted issues with both the Maybole and Ayr North sites such as the loss of amenity space and the suitability of the specific location and we take that on board.
"Our job now is to consider possible alternative locations and look at these in detail before progressing to the consultation stage.
"Our priority is to create a safe and supportive environment for the children we look after as a responsible 'corporate parent' – helping them achieve all the things we want for our own children.
"As we move forward and identify possible locations for these new facilities, we will continue to engage and work with our local communities to identify how and where that can best be achieved."
