THIS might be a pretty looking map - but it simply underlines the ugly mess left behind by the industrialisation of this area.

That was the message from its designer Jerry Mulders who has gone into painstaking detail to bring it together.

The New Cumnock Community Council chairperson wanted his members and residents of the village to have a clearer idea of how opencasts and wind farms dominated their area.

And by colour-coding both - pink is to illustrate opencasts and purple for wind farms - it highlights just how the area is, or will be, affected.

Some of the wind farms on the map have yet to be approved but it gives an idea of how the area could look over the coming months.

He said: “The biggest thing that I can see from the maps is that it clearly shows the cumulative impact of wind farms and opencasts. It gives me real concern about the industrialisation of an area that is being encouraged to embrace tourism.

“I made the map as I wanted to see for myself just what impact the opencasts and wind farms - including the current applications - have as you only really get drip-fed information.

“I am hoping the map gives the people of New Cumnock a greater understanding of what is going on in their area.” The map is predominantly about New Cumnock, with the border of the town marked in thick black. Each individual turbine is symbolised by a small circle within the purple, which shows the boundary of the wind farm development. The bigger the turbine, the bigger the circle.

There are 27 opencast sites - the numbers on the map are linked to East Ayrshire Council’s reference number - and 25 wind farm boundaries.

The map is ever-changing and Jerry added: “The map changes every week and I’m going to try and update things as and when required. I felt it was necessary to show the sizes of the turbines as they are getting bigger and bigger.” The most recent wind farm application, a development at Ashmark Hill by RWE Innogy UK, was rejected. While the Community Council didn’t object to the proposal, council chiefs kicked out the application earlier this month.