MORE than £25,000 has been spent on signs proclaiming East Ayrshire Council as UK Council of the Year.
The council were given the honour at the 2017 Improvement and Efficiency Awards (iESE) and have since erected 26 signs around the county.
A Freedom of Information request submitted by the Chronicle revealed that boundary signs on trunk roads were replaced at a cost of £15,484.14 while £10,845.53 was spent on adding “UK Council of the Year” to boundary signs on non trunk roads.
The most expensive sign – on the A77 northbound at the boundary with South Ayrshire – cost £7,000 to install.
In some locations, the boundary signs and poles were replaced because they were outdated, faded or damaged.
The council have defended the move saying they wanted to share their success.
A spokesperson for East Ayrshire Council said: “To be named the Improvement and Efficiency Awards (iESE) UK Council of the Year was a tremendous accomplishment and recognition of the excellent work, commitment and talent of our people.
“The award was for the entire Council and reflects our steadfast commitment to delivering quality services and putting the needs and aspirations of our communities at the heart of all that we do.
“We wanted our communities to share our success in achieving the Council of the Year award.
“Our communities work hard helping to make East Ayrshire an attractive place to live, work and visit, and without them this award would not have been possible.
“As we continue to look at more ways of involving and empowering our communities in the future, it felt appropriate that we mark the award in this way.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here