People across Girvan and Carrick will have the opportunity to help shape an exciting new vision for the local area when a programme of interactive design and planning events comes to town.

A Charrette is an intense design workshop that takes place over a number of days, in which stakeholders within a community work directly with a design team to generate community plans that relate to local needs and aspirations.
The Girvan Charrette, which will be delivered by John Thompson and Partners (JTP), urbanists and architects on behalf of the Scottish Government and South Ayrshire Council, takes place at Girvan Community Centre and the Carrick Buildings between Friday, March 2 and Tuesday 6. 

The purpose of the Charrette is to help develop a high-level vision for the regeneration of Girvan. It will offer the opportunity for local people to discuss the big issues affecting the future of the town and how these link to the plans for the new multi-faceted facility and the wider regeneration of the local area – for example, the town centre, harbour, community facilities, landscape and the environment, sustainability, getting around and the local economy.

The discussions and ideas generated throughout the Charrette will then be used to create a new vision and masterplan for the town – with clear plans and drawings – which will identify the priorities that will help secure Girvan’s future as a successful place and a sustainable community.

Councillor Bill McIntosh, leader of South Ayrshire Council, said: “The Girvan Charrette will act as a real ideas factory that will bring together the thinking, hopes and vision that exists in communities across the Carrick area to create a tangible masterplan that will shape the Girvan of the future.

“The Charrette will consider all the issues central to the regeneration of the town and the surrounding areas to come up with the vision that sets our planned multi-faceted facility into a well-connected sequence of streets and spaces that link together the various community, leisure and retail assets of the town.

“It won’t just be about having your say, it will be about making it happen and I hope as many people as possible take the opportunity to come along and play their part in shaping the future of Girvan.”

Planning Minister Derek Mackay described the Charrette as “a chance for everyone in Girvan to work together by talking about their priorities and the challenges facing the town – and how they can be addressed.”

You can take part in the Girvan Charrette at Girvan Community Centre, 80/82 Dalrymple Street, Girvan KA26 9BT on Friday 2 March: 2pm-8pm and Saturday,  March 3 : 11am-4pm. You can drop in for a short time, a few hours or stay for the entire event.

You can also attend an interim feedback session on the emerging vision for Girvan at the Carrick Buildings between 6pm-7.30pm on Sunday, March 4 and hear the final report on the vision at Girvan Community Centre from 7pm on Tuesday, March 6.

For further information, contact Ross Peedle at JTP at rp@jtp.co.uk, call 0131 550 6600 or click here.

For a link to the Scottish Government website for more information about the Charrette processes click here.