Walking in and around Irvine, there are my types of buildings to be seen. Down the main road through Irvine between Kilwinning and Dreghorn are mostly older, many very large, private dwellings apart form of course on the actual high street where many of these buildings are now shops. There re of course the odd pockets along this street that lead off to recently built flats to meet demands for more housing in the area. All are private housing though.

The rest of the town has various areas that have been regenerated and look much physically much better than before. The closer to the high street the more flats there are rather than houses. Towards the outskirts of the town there are more new, larger, private houses but policies have been in place to ensure the build of social housing alongside these which helps with some of the demand of affordable housing for those who may need it.

Irvine in general, in my opinion, is a very green town. By green, I mean there are trees and greenery around most areas of the town. There are tiny pockets of areas (the ones that tend to have a reputation for antisocial activity) that have less trees. I can only make the assumption that this is to ensure the CCTV can record as much as possible if necessary.

There are plenty of green spaces around Irvine. Residents don’t have to walk far to get to a park or a sports field. It is also a coastal town and access to the local beach is a short walk from the train station. There are various local authority parks including a large country park with play equipment purpose built to include people with additional needs.

There are public transport routes around the majority of Irvine. Buses are relied upon heavily by those who cannot drive. Their is a train station which has direct trains to both Glasgow and Ayr for those who work further afield than Irvine or for those travelling to college or university. Parking is rarely an issue in Irvine. There are many. Many purpose built car parks and parking is free.

There are ten mainstream primary schools (two of which are catholic), two mainstream secondary schools and two additional needs schools in the town. There is a catholic Academy several towns away which the local authority run a free bus service to. There is a community centre in each residential area of Irvine. These provide access to clubs and activities for many age groups in the community from bingo, to Zumba, to karate, to polling stations and private hire functions.

There is a library on the main street of the town which is free to join and easily accessible. There is a set of allotments at the edge of Eglington Park which at the moment has 34 allotments and more are in the planning. There is, however around a years waiting list for one.

The local authority run weekly bin collections and alternate between the types of bins. There are 3 coloured bins in North Ayrshire, one for general rubbish, one for recyclable matter and one for garden and food waste. There is also a recycling centre at Bogside which has containers for almost everything imaginable. The council also provide a waste collection service for large household objects for a small fee. To encourage residents not to throw away old furniture that is still in reasonable condition there is a free collection service for these items where they will be taken away and sold with proceeds going to local community projects.

There is a shopping centre and a high street with shops, a retail park and five supermarkets all in close proximity. Although there is much retail work in Irvine there is a large industrial side to the town. Ardagh glass employs at least 250 people and GlaxoSmithKline which offers some of the most sought after apprenticeships for the right candidates. Although the smells that regularly fill the air and noticeable several miles away are questionable to say the least. There is also a paper mill which can regularly be seen spewing smoke into the sky. There are at least 6 industrial estates left in Irvine although many of them house the now derelict buildings from the famous 50’s Glasgow overspill. Irvine was once booming with work and an extremely desirable place to live.

One of the big attractions in Irvine use to be the Magnum leisure centre which when built in the 70’s was the largest leisure centre in Europe. In recent years the facilities available there have dwindled much to the disappointment of many local residents. There is a new leisure centre being built right in the centre of the town. This will be excellent for public transport links but will close the doors to many of the large events that the magnum has been able to host for years. There are calls from local groups to put the Magnum building to some good use for the community instead of demolishing it or leaving it to rot as has happened to ‘The Big Idea’. The Big Idea was Irvine’s token to celebrate the millennium. A museum for science that was hoped would bring tourism back to Irvine. After only 2 years it closed it’s doors to the public and has been left to it’s own devices since. At the moment the Magnum still provides a swimming pool, gym and exercise classes all with special rates for those on low a low income. There are two golf cubs, 2 football teams and many KA leisure partners such as local schools that run numerous daily exercise classes.

There are many local organisations that work to support the local community, from charities that provide a place for people to go and learn new skills and build confidence to food banks and a Christmas toy appeal.

As far as peri-urban areas go in Irvine, North Ayrshire Council appear to be on the ball. The new housing estates being built appear to have wildlife catered for as such. There are purpose built ponds, planted trees and shrubs that are all aimed to house and protect local wildlife. There are cycle routes all around north Ayrshire which form part of the British cycle routes and country paths are plenty for walking. The Scottish wildlife reserve protect Sourlie woods and Shewalton woods and the RSPB protect a reserve at Bogside.

There is an Irvine Bay regeneration company which is focuses on the regeneration of many parts of North Ayrshire but has had a big part to play in the redevelopment of Irvine town centre and the new leisure centre. http://www.irvinebay.co.uk/

Irvine has a population of around 34,000 people. The air quality is currently a 1 for pollution (1 being very low).

 

 

After coming to this conclusion from my own research walking around the town, I found this very interesting booklet about the councils priorities which link in with what I have stated. file:///C:/Users/leona/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/IE/BSJ43DV4/NeighbourhoodDesignGuidance.pdf

I also came across this information on the councils outdoor access strategy. file:///C:/Users/leona/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/IE/9DQ2SE7Q/outdoor-access-strategy.pdf

North Ayrshire council local development plan: file:///C:/Users/leona/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/IE/H72PRZI3/adopted-LDP-policy.pdf

RSPB nature reserve Bogside: http://www.narspb.org.uk/Bogside