AN East Ayrshire councillor dubbed the “Rock 'n’ roll provost" swapped his usual motorbike for a double decker-bus to promote a conference for Scotland's towns.
Attended by 200 delegates from across the country, Scotland’s Towns Conference 2022 was organised by Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP) and East Ayrshire Council.
The event aims to highlight “ideas, innovations and actions” to ensure a more sustainable future for Scottish towns.
And in a bid to show off the sights, projects and developments that have helped transform Kilmarnock and the wider area, councillor Jim Todd took visitors on an open-top bus tour for the launch of the conference.
READ MORE: Scottish Borders one of the best places to visit, says Lonely Planet
Joined by Kilmarnock Football Club’s mascot Captain Conker, the bus tour stopped by St Marnock Square, Rugby Park and ended up at CentreStage.
Todd said they were delighted to “be rocking about town today” as hosts of the event.
He added: “Like so many other towns, Kilmarnock has been through its fair share of change and hardship over the last few years, but the one thing which has kept us all going is the strength we draw from our resilient people, who’ve pulled together to work in partnership and tackle all the challenges of a changing townscape.
“So today we’re keen to show off what we’ve achieved so far, but with an acknowledgement that there is much still to do. We hope by sharing our experience and listening to others we can all benefit from lessons learned and put our best feet forward as times get even tougher.”
East Ayrshire projects such as the transformation of the former Diageo site in Kilmarnock, the creation of CentreStage and other initiatives like the East Ayrshire Gift Card and ShopAppy have been credited as examples of what can be achieved through "collaboration and determination".
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here