South Ayrshire

South Ayrshire
Sooth Ayrshire
Siorrachd Inbhir Àir a Deas

Coat of arms
Logo
Coordinates: 55°17′N 4°42′W / 55.283°N 4.700°WCoordinates: 55°17′N 4°42′W / 55.283°N 4.700°W
Admin HQ Ayr
Government
 • Body South Ayrshire Council
 • Control TBA (council NOC)
 • MPs
 • MSPs
Area
 • Total 472 sq mi (1,222 km2)
Area rank Ranked 15th
Population (2010 est.)
 • Total 113,000
 • Rank Ranked 18th
 • Density 240/sq mi (91/km2)
ONS code 00RE
ISO 3166 code GB-SAY
Website http://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/
South Ayrshire
Structure
Seats 30 councillors
9 / 30
9 / 30
10 / 30
0 / 30
Independents
2 / 30
Elections
Single transferable vote
Last election
 3 May 2012
Website
www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk


South Ayrshire (Scots: Sooth Ayrshire; Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Inbhir Àir a Deas, pronounced [ʃirˠəxk iɲiˈɾʲaːɾʲ ə tʲes̪]) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire.

The administrative boundaries were formed in 1996, and is a direct successor to the Kyle and Carrick district.

The Conservative Party currently lead a minority administration in South Ayrshire, with Bill McIntosh as Leader of the Council and Helen Moonie as Provost.

County Buildings

South Ayrshire's Headquarters, "County Buildings", are located in Wellington Square, Ayr. The buildings were built in 1931 on the site of Ayr Jail and opened by King George VI. At the front of the buildings is Ayr Sheriff Court which was built as the original county buildings in 1822.

Towns and villages

Despite only making up a fraction of the council area Ayr, Prestwick and Troon have a combined population of 76,846- 68.13% of the South Ayrshire's total population. The surrounding area of Kyle and Carrick has a population of 35,953 - this accounts for 31.87% of South Ayrshire's population. A list of settlements in South Ayrshire may be found below:

Places of interest

Education

Secondary schools

School School roll Opened Area served notes
Ayr Academy 715 1880 North Ayr, Coylton, Annbank, Mossblown Scotland's oldest secondary school
Belmont Academy 1455 New School Opened August 2008 South Ayr 6th Largest school in Scotland
Carrick Academy 554 1926 Maybole and North Carrick Present buildings built in 1974
Girvan Academy 660 Girvan and South Carrick
Kyle Academy 902 1979 East Ayr
Marr College 1233 1935 Troon and Loans funded by money left by CK Marr
Queen Margaret Academy 662 1977 Roman Catholic pupils in South Ayrshire Only Roman Catholic school in South Ayrshire
Prestwick Academy 1200 1902 Prestwick, North Ayr, Symington and Monkton

Closed schools

Politics

Council political composition

Party Councillors
Conservative 10
Scottish National Party 9
Labour 9
Independent 2

A list of councillors may be found below:

Scottish independence referendum

In the Scottish independence referendum, South Ayrshire rejected independence by a margin of 57.9% "No" to 42.1% "Yes" alongside 28 of 32 local council areas in Scotland. With a turnout of 86.1%, there was 34,402 "Yes" votes and 47,247 "No" votes. Nationally, 55.3% of voters voted "No" in the referendum compared to 44.7%, who voted "Yes" - resulting in Scotland remaining a part of the United Kingdom.

Previous elections

The Council elections in May 2003 resulted in a "hung" Council where both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party had 15 seats. Control of the Council was nominally given to the Labour party after a "cutting of the cards", though such an unstable arrangement had a detrimental effect on the decision-making process. In November 2005 the leader of the Labour group Andy Hill resigned on the grounds of ill-health,[1] allowing the Conservatives to govern with a 15-14 majority until the 2007 election. Gibson MacDonald became Leader of the Council with Robin Reid as Deputy Leader.

References

  1. ↑ Innes, John (29 November 2005). "Ayrshire council leader quits over health". The Scotsman (Edinburgh).

External links