NEW MAN AT THE TOP AND THANKS TO THE WORKERS

Hooray, things are perking up again. By the end of March, I had attended three funerals and was feeling pretty glum. Then along comes April, and already I have been to a wedding and two christenings. On top of that, the sun has been shining recently, and the floral displays at the Library would brighten up even the dullest of days.

In Council land, it's all change at the top - we have a new Chief Executive, David Anderson. Welcome aboard David. We have done a lot of hard work since the elections last May, and David is coming aboard a much more vibrant and focused Council than would have been the case a year ago. There's lots still to do, but I do believe there is more of a feeling of self-belief, and a can-do attitude is working its way through the Council. As Councillors, we have played our part in this, but it is important to recognise the hard work and commitment shown by Council staff at all levels over this past year, so I would like to convey my personal thanks to them for all their hard work. Well done, folks.

As I say, there is lots still to do in Council land, but we are all working our way through it. We are tackling issues such as our Single Outcome Agreement with Holyrood, a review of our decision-making processes, the refining of our strategies in areas such as Human Resources, Procurement, ICT, Business Continuity, and Corporate Communications. Add to this the Best Value Audit preparations, the development of the Community Planning Partnership, and the day-to day delivery of Council services, and you perhaps begin to see that we are in fact putting in a full shift.

Nearer to home, the four Troon Councillors and Council officers met recently in our capacity as members of the Marr College Review Group, to start the process of tackling the issues surrounding the College. We had a full discussion on a range of issues, and we recognise the difficulties we face in trying to find a satisfactory resolution of the problems we face. We agreed the need to move forward, and to open a dialogue with all of the many Marr College stakeholders. There are no easy answers, and we are only at the start of what will be a long journey, but every journey starts with the first step, and we have taken ours. We'll keep you posted.

I started by mentioning the three funerals in March. The final one of these was a family bereavement which meant that a planned week-long trip to Paris fell through at the eleventh hour. These things happen, but even so it was a shame to see the wife on Easter Sunday morning, her birthday, sitting atop her packed suitcase while on the 'phone to Paris to cancel our hotel reservation, rather than jetting off courtesy of Ryanair. Poor wee soul. Still, it is probably quite character building and, anyway, if we had gone and it had rained in Paris while the sun shone here, she would not have been a happy Easter Bunny.

Bill McIntosh