FOOTBALL FLOOD

Negotiations were taking place to find a temporary venue for football matches as an alternative to a flood-hit Kay Park in Ochiltree.

The problem started getting out of hand in June with several scheduled matches being postponed as the pitch was unplayable and posed a serious injury risk.

East Ayrshire Council arranged for Ochiltree Community to have one-off access to Broomfield Playing Fields for a Scottish Amateur Cup match against Finnart.

The match, which Ochiltree lost 4-3, had initially been in doubt as the deadline for informing their opponents of the venue was fast approaching.

A club spokesman said: “We were due an update from the council on September 15 regarding work at Kay Park but had heard nothing by September 26.

“We had a Scottish Cup game due and had nowhere to play.

The Auchinleck Academy pitch may be an alternative — but it is £100 to hire,three times the cost of Kay Park.

“The council gave us one-off access to Broomfield and they stated that the quote received to fix Kay Park was too high and they were looking for alternative options.

“I would like to extend a huge thanks to everyone at Cumnock Rugby Club for helping us get this game on.

“Ochiltree Community FC had gone three weeks without a game and we faced a period of expensive pitch hire to make up games.”

BANKS CLOSED

Cumnock and Mauchline town centre changed forever during October as one of their long standing businesses closed its doors for good.

The Royal Bank of Scotland ended its affiliation with Cumnock and Doon Valley when it shut its last remaining branches.

Both branches were closed in a 24-hour spell after years of being a seemingly permanent fixture.

RBS made the announcement that it would close the branches back in April.

The bank decided to close the branches, along with 30 others nationwide, as more customers turn to online banking.

Campaigners told the Chronicle, however, that only around 10 per cent of local customers were using the online facilities.

NEARLY THERE

Members of the Ochiltree Community Hub (OCH) Trust were within touching distance of their funding target.

A monumental effort has been undertaken with meetings into the early hours and tough negotiations tackled in obtaining the £1,699,000 needed.

This was not a pie-in-the-sky figure plucked out of the air, rather a professional costing exercise to create a new community facility.

MSP Jeane Freeman met the trustees and chatted over a cup of coffee on the project — past, present and future.

OCH chairman Alex Baird reported that an architect and design team had been approved with building starting in the summer of 2019.

He said that the group had done exceptionally well to reach the stage they are at.