Over the past few weeks, Ayrshire Housing’s Board and staff members have been out and about in support of the South Ayrshire Community Partnership. Stalls at community events in Girvan, Maybole and Troon allowed Ayrshire Housing to engage with local residents and to strengthen still further links with many local community organisations.
These local events underpinned a major community conference in the County Buildings, Ayr. This was attended by 170 delegates from voluntary and not for profit groups as well as from all the key Community Planning agencies – including the Council, NHS Ayrshire and Arran and Strathclyde Police.
Councillor Bill McIntosh, Chair of the Community Planning Board and Leader of South Ayrshire Council opened the conference. The delegates participated in a varied programme of activities which included networking with members of the partnership and taking part in a number of sessions that were facilitated by young people from local secondary schools. These sessions set the agendas for a series of theme groups which will continue to meet over the next 12 months with the aim of improving the quality of public involvement in the delivery of services.
Ayrshire Housing’s Chair Paul Torrance emphasised to the delegates the need to increase affordable housing supply in South Ayrshire and the importance of housing to all the key community planning themes.