East Ayrshire Council have announced a new revenue budget for the area – with announcements including moves to improve both housing and refuse collections in Newmilns.

The council has this week set its revenue budget for 2012/13 ahead of the rest of Scotland and one of the key pledges made by Leader, Councillor Douglas Reid, was the removal of charges for householders requesting a bulky uplift.

In recent years, East Ayrshire Council has been working to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill and householders are provided with a range of vessels to encourage them to recycle paper, glass, tins, plastics, garden and kitchen waste.

In addition the Council operates two recycling centres which are open seven days a week to accommodate local demand.

Consequently, there has been a significant drop in landfill usage, and this in turn has led to a reduction in the landfill tax due by the Council.

Councillor Reid explained: “Financially, times are tough at the moment and, in some instances, people could be tempted to abandon bulky items rather than pay for their safe disposal. We are committed to protecting the environment and providing households with bulky uplifts free of charge is further evidence and encouragement for our communities.”

The free service will come into effect from 1 April 2012.

Also part of the budget announcement was a commitment to continue to improve the quality of housing in East Ayrshire.

East Ayrshire Council has been working to a scheduled 5-year Housing Improvement Plan, to bring all homes in the area up to the standard set out in the Scottish Housing Quality Standard by 2015, with thousands of properties benefitting from new bathroom and kitchen installations, rewiring and central heating upgrades, and window and door replacements.

The pledge made by Councillor Reid today to launch an external enhancement programme will ensure investment in the exteriors of council houses.

Councillor Reid explained: “To complement the work which has been undertaken to improve the interiors of Council housing stock, I have asked officers to bring forward options for a programme of scheduled enhancements to our council houses and these will include replacing worn and weathered roughcasting and guttering as well as exterior paint work.

“In recent years we have focussed on improving the energy efficiency of our tenants’ homes, to help them keep maintenance and fuel costs down. But we know that communities react positively to improvements to their environment, and the plans I have asked officers to develop will have this in mind.”

The planned programme of exterior improvements will also commence on 1 April 2012.

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