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°W / 55.283; -4.700Coordinates: 55°17′N 4°42′W / 55.283°N 4.700°W / 55.283; -4.700
Admin HQ	Ayr
Government
• Body	South Ayrshire Council
• Control	TBA (council NOC) (Con + Lab)
• MPs	Philippa Whitford (SNP – Central Ayrshire) Corri Wilson (SNP – Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
• MSPs	Adam Ingram (SNP – Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) John Scott (Conservative – Ayr)
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 (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. They are working within a partnership agreement with the Labour Party, supported by both Independents.

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 rural 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:

• Alloway (Suburb of Ayr)
• Ayr
• Annbank
• Ballantrae
• Barassie (Suburb of Troon)
• Barr
• Barrhill
• Coodham
• Crosshill
• Coylton
• Drongan
• Dailly
• Dundonald
• Dunure
• Girvan
• Colmonell
• Kirkmichael
• Kirkoswald
• Lendalfoot
• Maybole
• Monkton
• Mossblown
• Maidens
• Old Dailly
• Pinmore
• Pinwherry
• Prestwick
• Straiton
• Symington
• Tarbolton
• Troon
• Turnberry

Places of interest

• Ailsa Craig
• Bachelor's Club, Tarbolton
• Bargany Gardens
• Blairquhan
• Burns Cottage
• Burns National Heritage Park (Robert Burns)
• Carrick Forest
• Crossraguel Abbey
• Culzean Castle
• Electric Brae
• Penkill Castle
• Souter Johnnie's Cottage

Education

Secondary schools

Closed schools

• Mainholm Academy
• Good Shepherd Primary
• Newton Academy

Politics

Local Government

Councillor composition

A list of South Ayrshire councillors may be found below, sorted by political party:

• Conservative (10): Bill McIntosh (Leader of the Council) Margaret Toner, Mary Kilpatrick (Depute Provost) Peter Convery, Hugh Hunter, John Hampton, Bill Grant, Robin Reid, Ann Galbraith and Hywel Davies.

• Scottish National Party (8): Allan Dorans JP (Group Leader), Nan McFarlane, Douglas Campbell, William Grant, Ian Douglas, John Allan, Ian Cochrane and Alec Oattes.

• Labour (9): John McDowall (Group Leader) Phil Saxton, Helen Moonie (Provost), Ian Cavana, Andy Campbell, Sandra Goldie, Rita Miller, Kirsty Darwent and Brian McGinley.

• Independent (2): Brian Connolly and Alec Clark.

Westminister

South Ayrshire forms part of 2 Westminster constituencies, listed below:

Scottish Parliament

Constituency MSPs

South Ayrshire forms part of 2 Scottish Parliamentary constituency seats, listed below:

Regional List MSPs

As part of the South Scotland electoral region, South Ayrshire is represented by 7 regional MSPs who are elected to represent the entire South Scotland region – all regional list MSPs elected for the South Scotland region are shown 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.^[2]

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,^[3] 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

External links

• Official website
• South Ayrshire at DMOZ

South Ayrshire Towns Ayr Girvan Maybole Prestwick Troon Villages Annbank Ballantrae Barr Colmonell Coylton Dailly Dundonald Dunure Kirkmichael Kirkoswald Loans Monkton Mossblown Old Dailly Straiton Symington Tarbolton Trabboch Other settlements and suburbs Ayr: Alloway Belmont Doonfoot Forehill Fort Heathfield Kincaidston Seafield Troon: Barassie Coylton: Joppa Scottish Parliament Ayr Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley UK Parliament Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Central Ayrshire See Also Carrick Kyle Kyle and Carrick Strathclyde South Ayrshire Council election (2012) Neighbouring council areas: East Ayrshire North Ayrshire Dumfries and Galloway

Carrick Settlements Former burghs Ballantrae Girvan Maybole Others Auchencrosh Balkissock Bargany Barr Colmonell Crosshill Dailly Drumshang Dunure Greenan Kirkmichael Kirkoswald Maidens Minishant Old Dailly Patna Pinmore Pinwherry Smyrton Straiton Administration National subdivisions Ayrshire and Arran lieutenancy area Carrick earldom Kyle and Carrick local government district Sheriffdom and County of Ayr South Ayrshire Council area Parliamentary seats (Scotland) Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley Parliamentary seats (UK) Ayrshire (1708–1868) South Ayrshire (1868–1983) Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (1983–2005) Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (2005–) Culture Gaelic in Carrick and Galloway Sawney Bean Geography Islands Ailsa Craig Lochs Craigdow Loch Loch Bradan Loch Doon Loch Dornal Loch Finloch Loch Goosey Loch Spaig Loch Spallander Loch Spouts Rivers River Doon River Stinchar Water of App Water of Girvan Water of Tig History Heritage sites Blairquhan Castle Crossraguel Abbey Culzean Castle Dinvin Motte Dunduff Castle Dunure Castle Glenapp Castle Greenan Castle Kirkoswald Parish Church Knockdolian Maybole Collegiate Church Penkill Castle Turnberry Castle People Abbots of Crossraguel Clan Kennedy Earls or mormaers of Carrick Marquesses of Ailsa and their predecessors Sport Girvan F.C. Maybole F.C. Turnberry golf course Transport Railway lines Girvan and Portpatrick Junction Railway Maybole and Girvan Railway Railway stations Barrhill railway station Girvan railway station Maybole railway station Roads A77 A714