A REPORT on the lengthy closure of Glaisnock Street in Cumnock is set to finally go before East Ayrshire councillors this week – amid fears that more than a year might pass between the road’s emergency closure and its full reopening.

Local authority officials were supposed to bring a report to the council’s cabinet in June – but issues surrounding the state of the building which forced the street’s closure last year forced that report to be delayed.

And a special cabinet meeting has now been called for Wednesday, August 3, in the hope of getting councillors to approve a way forward.

The road originally closed fully due to a collapsed wall all the way back in October.

After a one-way system was put in place a few weeks later, an order to keep the road in a one-way condition was then put in place in April.

The road will not fully reopen before September 30 – but issues over ownership of the adjacent building mean that this date could further be extended, meaning it could be a year between the road originally closing and being fully reopened to more than a year after the original closure.

Residents are still confused and baffled at the length of time taken to sort the issue.

One said: “Whenever you drive past it, it seems like there are never any workers at it.

“How can the council let it be that there’s a building causing an issue to the road and this building doesn’t even technically have an owner?

“You genuinely couldn’t make this up with East Ayrshire Council.”

The council previously said that an “intrusive survey” was to be carried out in early June to give a clearer idea of the condition of the building at number 18.

This, it was hoped, would provide a more accurate cost estimate for the works required to deal with any issues at number 18 and allow work to begin over the Summer.

It was hoped the matter could be discussed either by the cabinet or the full council in June – but complications surrounding the ownership of properties nearby meant no report was ready before the Summer recess.

A Council spokesperson said: “It is intended to report the matter to either Cabinet or Council before the end of June, to invite a decision which can then be actioned over the summer”.

Issues surrounding the building have delayed the presenting of this survey.

David Mitchell, head of governance at EAC, said: “Due to complex issues surrounding ownership of adjacent buildings, we will be presenting a report to a special cabinet meeting next week to help us progress these works.

“We will report further once a decision has been made.”