An Ayrshire man has been banned from owning animals after keeping his pet dog and tortoise in squalor Ronan Jackson was sentenced at Ayr Sheriff Court on Tuesday 21 April to a Community Payback Order and has been placed under supervision for one year.    He was also handed a disqualification order for owning and keeping animals for five years, after failing to provide his Border Collie Meg and pet tortoise Pebble with a safe and sanitary living environment, exposing his dog t

From Sunday 3rd May, Stagecoach bus fares will increase in price across Scotland.     Image - Stagecoach   Stagecoach has said: “These decisions are never taken lightly. The changes reflect the rising costs of running our services and ensure we can continue to invest in what matters most – delivering reliable, sustainable bus services for our customers and communities. As a result, prices of Single, DayReturn, DayRider, Flexi 5 & 10, 7 day and 4 week MegaRider, and MegaRider

The Music Service has showcased the talent and dedication of children and young people across East Ayrshire during March - a month of incredible energy, achievement, and musical celebration. Throughout the month, over 900 pupils took part in Benedetti Foundation classroom workshops, bringing world-class musical inspiration directly into schools. These engaging sessions ignited creativity, built confidence, and offered pupils the chance to experience music-making on a whole ne

One of Galston’s most prominent buildings has been brought back into public use, following a £3.45m restoration project undertaken by East Ayrshire Council. The new Galston Town Hall will officially open its doors to the public on Wednesday  8 April 2026, offering a new location for the public library, and a skills and learning hub to enhance further the Council’s commitment to giving local people the skills to learn and work. The refurbishment officially got underway in Janu

Amey, on behalf of Transport Scotland, is undertaking essential resurfacing on the A77 at Bellfield Roundabout, including the slips, from Monday 30th March  until Thursday 2nd April 2026 between the hours of 9pm  and 6am  each night.  This work will require overnight closures of the roundabout and slips, and signed diversions will be in operation.  Traffic wishing to use the southbound A77 off slip will be directed to follow the southbound A77 to Bogend, Tarbolton Road and th

East Ayrshire Council has launched a new vocation training programme as part of the Ayrshire Growth Deal’s ambitions to upskill residents in Cumnock and Doon Valley, enabling them to access employment in the emerging electric vehicle and hydrogen automotive sector. The pilot project is a key component of the Community Renewable Energy project (CoRE) which will develop new skills pathways in creating a pipeline of skilled individuals aligned to the needs of local employers, wh

A new bin collection service will be rolled out in two phases starting in Cumnock and the surrounding area from May 2026, and Kilmarnock and the surrounding area from October. The new collection service will see the recycling trolley replaced with three separate wheeled bins for paper and cardboard, plastics and cans, and glass. Each of the new bins, along with the general waste bin, will be collected once every four weeks, while the food caddy will be collected weekly alongs

Dance Fest, Ayrshire’s biggest celebration of dance, was held recently at the Gaiety Theatre in Ayr. The spectacular event showcased the very best of dance from local schools, community groups, private dance schools and stage schools. Our resident East Ayrshire Youth Dance Company and Junior Dance Company, which are funded by the National Lottery, opened the show in style. Choreographed by Louise Chudleigh and Carrie Craggs respectively, the youth company gave a wonderful per

East Ayrshire Council’s Cabinet has agreed the Ayrshire Roads Alliance’s programme of investment works that will allow improvements to be carried out to carriageways, footways and street lighting, in addition to bridge strengthening and investment in transportation, traffic and road safety. For 2026/27 the overall roads capital budget will be £5.752 million, and a number of carriageway and footway schemes have been identified and prioritised for action. The investment will se

Detectives are appealing for information following an attempted robbery in Kilmarnock. Around 12pm on Sunday, 8 March, 2026, a 79-year-old woman was walking on London Road at it’s junction with Dunure Drive, when she was approached by a man who attempted to forcibly pull her bag from her.   The woman was assisted by a member of the public before police were contacted. She was not injured during the incident but was left badly shaken. The suspect is described as male, aged 25-

New redeployable CCTV cameras are being installed in priority areas across East Ayrshire to tackle environmental crime and improve community safety. In May last year, Council agreed as part of the Strategic Review of Community Safety and Enforcement, to fund six new deployable cameras bringing the total across the area to 14. The cameras are currently being installed in areas that have been identified in partnership with key stakeholders, taking account of feedback from resid

Nick Page, Chief Executive of Scotland's new national awarding body, Qualifications Scotland and Chief Examiner Donna Stewart visited SL33 in Kilmarnock recently to find out more about the service the team provide. Welcomed by Director of Education and Skills, Linda McAulay-Griffiths and Chief Executive Eddie Fraser - Nick and Donna met with Margorie Harvie, Skills and Learning Employability Manager, Ian Burgoyne, Assistant Director of Education and Skills, and the wider team

Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop MSP visited Darvel Primary last week to meet the partnership team behind an impressive active travel initiative. The Cabinet Secretary was welcomed to the school by Ethan, Lewis, Brooklyn, Lillie and Ollie; Councillor Douglas Reid, Leader of the Council, Councillor Elaine Cowan, Spokesperson for Education, and Children and Young People, and Chief Executive Eddie Fraser; who were joined at the visit by Councillors Jim McMahon, Grah

A recent meeting at Full Council informed members that new firework laws have been introduced, and East Ayrshire Council will oversee the process for considering and designating Firework Control Zones. The  Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022  gives councils a new discretionary power to introduce Firework Control Zones. A Firework Control Zone is a designated area within a local authority area in which it is a criminal offence for a member of the public to

The trial of 20mph speed limits on all local roads in Mauchline and New Cumnock is set to begin soon. The local schemes, being implemented by Ayrshire Roads Alliance (ARA), complement work that has almost been completed by Transport Scotland in partnership with ARA across the trunk road network to reduce the speed limit to 20mph. The speed limit reduction is due to start on local roads in New Cumnock on 6 March and Mauchline on 13 March, the same dates that the A76 schemes go

The Waverly has started her winter refit programme at the James Watt Dock in Greenock. This is part of a programme of restoration and repair that will see more than £500,000 spent on her this year. She will sail regularly from Largs in 2026 and is also expected make some sailings from Ayr and Troon during the this summer’s Clyde Sailing season from 26th June to 30th August. Details of the summer sailing programme will be released mid-March. Bookings will be possible at that t

At the recent meeting of Full Council, a report was presented on the rent consultation for 2026/27 and 2027/28. Agreement was reached that housing rent would increase by 7% for 2026/27, which is equivalent to an average increase of £6.36 a week; and 7% for 2027/28, which is equivalent to £6.80 a week. An extensive consultation with tenants took place between 1 December and 25 January 2026, and two proposals were presented for each year. For 2026/27 - proposal one was for a re

Wallace Court, East Ayrshire Council’s assisted living housing development on Kilmarnock Road, Mauchline has been officially opened by Councillor Jim McMahon, Spokesperson for Housing, Transport and Communities. Named after not one but two local Wallaces – the Wallace family who operated a market garden on the site and Margaret Wallace, a former MSP and Community Centre volunteer – Wallace Court, which was built for the East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, provid

Local pupils helped to remember those who were involved in all aspects of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides as part of an event to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. Pupils from Auchinleck Primary and St Joseph’s, Kilmarnock, Stewarton, Loudoun, Doon, Robert Burns and Grange Academies delivered powerful presentations, lit candles and held a minute’s silence at East Ayrshire Council HQ in memory of all those who lost their lives during the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and in gen

Work has started this week on the demolition of the old fabric factory on Jamieson Road, Darvel. This is a specialist demolition project, due to asbestos found within the factory site, and it is anticipated that it will take 14 weeks to complete. Darvel Sports Centre, which sits adjacent to the site, will continue to run as normal throughout the demolition process. Once the demolition has been fully completed and the ground restored, the site will be subject to a Community As