A Muirkirk youngster is making it his mission to upgrade the village's parks, and his plans have had strong support.

Ben Clifford, 12, has come up with a plan of improving the play park in Victory Park, to cater for children of all ages.

A pupil at St John's Primary School in Ayr, Ben noticed how there was an excellent skatepark and playpark close to his school, which was ideal for children.

In his wisdom, Ben thought it would be great idea to have something like this in his own village.

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The youngster wants to include things that are available for toddlers, all the way up to teenagers.

Initially, Ben presented his proposals to Councillor Linda Holland, who thought it would be a great idea.

From there, members of East Ayrshire Council met with Ben at Victory Park in Muirkirk to discuss his ideas.

Cllr Holland said that once the council had sorted out their contractors for their playparks, they would see what would be available to upgrade the Muirkirk parks.

Posted by Muirkirk Community Council on Friday, 10 February 2023

Failing that, they would look at potentially doing some kind of fund-raising efforts to bring Ben's ideas to life.

Cllr Holland said: "The one thing about the people of Muirkirk is they really get on board with an idea for the village.

"He read his plans out in front of a community council meeting as well and eveyone was blow away by his enthusiasm. Honestly, you could bottle it up and sell it.

"We agreed that we wanted to promote Ben's idea. I've got a friend from Muirkirk who works for a media company, so he's going to do a short film with Ben to give it some promotion.

"We're going to give this a good push, because there's no point in doing this if the kids in the village don't know that it's there.

"it's such a feel-good story for someone this young to be so enthusiastic about this.

"He's 12 years old, but he's honestly ahead of his time and I think it's a great idea."

You can find out more about Ben's plans and to give your views by going to the Muirkirk Community Council Facebook page.