Muirkirk Village, Ayrshire: project development programme

5 November 2001 | blog, small towns, working with communities

Muirkirk Enterprise Group (MEG) and Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire have commissioned a programme of project development for Muirkirk Village in East Ayrshire. The consultancy team is Willie Miller Urban Design and Planning, Shared Intelligence and Neil Baxter Associates.

This study builds on the ongoing activities of MEG and aims to take forward an earlier consultancy study – the Assessment and Future Direction Report – finalised in early 2001. This report – by Willie Miller in association with Yellow Book – presented a baseline position for Muirkirk in social, economic and environmental terms, and outlined key project ideas to form the basis for the future development of the village.

This study has five key objectives:

to review and update the Assessment and Future Direction Report in light of current regeneration activity
to create a strategy and business plan for MEG
to implement a marketing and PR strategy for the village
to generate a fund-raising and fund-sourcing strategy
to assist with the translation of ideas into actions

The first section of this report is an independent review and validation of the Assessment and Direction Report. This element of the research has been carried out by Shared Intelligence. This initial phase of the study aimed to ensure that MEG’s existing and emerging proposals for Muirkirk are placed in the context of wider regeneration and inclusion initiatives in East Ayrshire. Complementarity between MEG’s plans and public sector agencies will also optimise the potential to secure external funding from these organisations. We are grateful to the many organisations that contributed to and assisted with the review. We carried out a series of consultations with relevant representatives of the public and private sectors including East Ayrshire Council (Community, Economic Development and Access departments), Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire, the Employment Service Action Team (based in Kilmarnock), the East Ayrshire Employment Initiative, Ayrshire Electronic Community, Scottish Coal and Muirkirk-based groups including the East Ayrshire Car Club, Fishing Club and Golf Club.

Muirkirk Prospectus PDF (761 KB)