WORK on East Ayrshire Council’s £1.38m Skeoch Road housing development site is well underway in the heart of Mauchline town centre.

Part of the Council’s extensive town centre house building programme, the development was made possible by the charitable trust, Jean Armour Burns Houses Ltd, who approached the Council seeking assistance to take on the responsibility of a terrace of existing tenanted houses and an adjacent site.

To protect the existing tenancies of the elderly residents, the Council purchased the site and it will now accommodate ten beautiful, new affordable homes specially designed for older and ambulant disabled people.

Councillor Douglas Reid, Leader of East Ayrshire Council was joined by local members, Councillors Stephanie Primrose and David Shaw, to view the site. He said: “The Skeoch Road site is a key part of the Council’s Strategic Local Programme which will see over 200 affordable homes being built in town centres throughout East Ayrshire fulfilling our objective to promote town centre living and in turn aid town centre regeneration.

“The development has been beautifully designed by architects Robert Potter & Partners of Ayr and has been influenced by the Princes Trust project at Knockroon. The homes will have mock chimneys, slate roofs and timber windows, ensuring that they fit seamlessly into their historical environment.” The works are being managed by Atrium Initiatives on behalf of the Council and are being built in partnership with McTaggart Construction, a large private housing developer, and supported by funding from the Scottish Government. The homes are due for completion in January 2015.

Housing Minister Margaret Burgess said: “I am delighted with the progress at this new affordable housing development in Skeoch Road, which the Scottish Government has provided £460,000 in funding towards through our Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

“East Ayrshire has benefited from over £10 million in funding from the Scottish Government for new affordable housing projects since 2012, and we are supporting the construction of around 200 affordable homes in the area which are due for completion by March 2015.

“The supply of affordable housing continues to be a high priority for us, and we are working with the entire sector to increase the supply of affordable homes and deliver vital support for construction and house building companies throughout Scotland.

“This commitment is underlined by our £1.7 billion investment in affordable housing over the current parliamentary term, supporting an estimated 8,000 jobs each year.” Chairman of Atrium Homes Jim O’Neill said: “This is the seventh Council house building project Atrium has been involved with and we are delighted once again to be able to share our development expertise with the Council on this prestigious development and in such an historic location.

“We hope that the partnership between the Council and Atrium continues to be an effective means of providing affordable housing across all the communities of East Ayrshire.”