ISLAND community councillors are looking ahead to future projects for the new year ahead of submitting their Local Place Plan.

Cumbrae Community Council revealed in their Annual General Meeting (AGM) that they hope to support the wishes of young people in their desire for a skate park and be involved in a feasibility study of a care home.  

They created an in-depth survey in April this year that asked islanders for their say on a variety of important issues and received hundreds of responses.

Local Place Plans (LPPs) are community-led plans that allow community bodies to actively plan for their future.

They focus on proposals for land use development and they may also identify land and buildings that the community body considers to be of particular significance to the local area.

It will help to agree on priorities as a community and influence planning policies adopted by North Ayrshire Council.

The Cumbrae Place Plan status was updated in a community council meeting (Image: Newsquest) An update of the status of the place plan was provided in the Cumbrae Community Council AGM meeting on Thursday, November 28.

Alex Harvie, chair of Cumbrae Community Council said: "Our key project was the development plan and we started with a digital survey in March and April which gathered 545 responses.

"To support the survey, the community council members of the Cumbrae Forum held drop-in sessions for those who wanted to complete the survey in person.

"An open community consultation for the whole island was held on April 13 and a stakeholder consultation was held on April 19. 

"In general respondents felt positive about Cumbrae in relation to safety, community and views.

"Respondents were negative about the ferry service, North Ayrshire Council, business opening hours, some aspects of tourism and the proposed solar farm.

"They expressed a desire for improved amenities, fewer cars and motorhomes and more people visiting the island as foot passengers."

It was revealed in the meeting that the final document of the Local Place Plan will be ready for submission to the council at the end of the year.

She continued: "We are not complacent and we know the whole point of the place plan is to find out what everybody wants and thinks.

"We have had a huge number of compliments from North Ayrshire Council and other councillors because of the scale of our consultation and just how engaged our community is, is one of the most interesting for them to see."

Community councillors also detailed the projects that they hope to focus on next year to ensure the voices of islanders are listened to.

Alex added: "As the place plan finishes, key projects are going to come out of it. These are likely to be handling the overnight parking issue on the island, and getting the solar panels added to buildings.

"We want to do one test case in the Conservation area because we feel that would enable everybody in the area to get their utilities costs down.

"We [also] want to support younger people following the place plan in their very loud bid for a skate park in St Ninians Park. 

"We want to support the Cumbrae Forum in getting a study undertaken to look at the feasibility of a care home."

To find out more about Cumbrae Community Council, visit its website at cumbrae.org.