Symington Community Council
Latest News
19/08/2026
VASA (Voluntary Action South Ayrshire) - Christmas Day Referral Form
Click here to view the Christmas Day Referral Form. The referral is for people who are over 65, live alone, are socially isolated and do not have any friends or family who will call in to visit them on Christmas Day.
Gift bags and meals are funded by donations from local businesses, organisations and individuals.
For 2026, we will be offering a choice for those who are abled bodied and can access transport without assistance and do not have any incontinence issues.
For those who are housebound or with little mobility, a meal and gift bag will be delivered on Christmas Day, sometime between 10am and 1pm by a team of volunteers. The meal will consist of a frozen Christmas dinner and pudding and can be cooked in the oven or microwave, cooking instructions will be provided.
The person who has been referred must be at home to answer the door as gift bags will not be left with anyone else/on the doorstep.
For those that are able to travel, shared transport will be provided to and from the home. The person would be driven to Alloway Parish Church, where they will have a four course Christmas Dinner, a visit from Santa and some entertainment. The event would start at around about 1pm with people being taken home from 4pm. It should be stressed that we cannot take people home early due to tight transport arrangements.
Please also let us know if they are hard of hearing, have mobility problems which mean it takes them a considerable amount of time to come to the door or anything else you think we should know.
Please send completed referral forms to Marie Oliver at marie@vasa.scot
LAST DAY FOR REFERRALS: 1st DECEMBER 2026
04/08/2026
'Climate Leadership Opportunity For The Young People Within Your Communities'
Symington Community Council is sharing the following correspondence received 04/08/26:
Hello,
I hope this message finds you well. My name is James, and I volunteer with the 2050 Climate Group, a youth-led charity dedicated to educating, engaging, and empowering young people to lead the transition to a just and sustainable society.
We are excited to announce the launch of our 3rd Climate Action Leadership Programme (CALP)! This initiative reflects our volunteers' dedication and hard work, and we are thrilled to share it with you.
I am reaching out to all the community councils in Scotland that I can with the hope to increase our connections all over Scotland and especially outwith the central belt. Below gives all the details about us and the programme. It would be great if you can share it with the young people within your organisation and in your community.
About the Programme
The Climate Action Leadership Programme (CALP) is a free and flexible opportunity designed to equip young people aged 18-35 with the leadership skills and climate change knowledge needed to take meaningful action. CALP builds on a decade of experience to offer our most comprehensive, inclusive, and accessible learning experience yet. The programme includes:
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Free for All: Everything for our learning programme is free and we also offer support through our participation fund to reduce financial barriers.
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Flexible Learning: A mix of in-person and online content.
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Field Trips: Hands-on experiences to see climate action in motion.
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Skill Building: Workshops and activities to develop practical leadership skills.
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Community Connection: Opportunities to connect with a supportive network of like-minded peers.
Why This Matters
The programme is open to young people aged 18-35 in Scotland who are eager to enhance their leadership skills in climate action. It is designed to be accessible to everyone, of all backgrounds and experience levels. Unlike many personal development opportunities that target those with university-level qualifications or more disposable income, CALP is free to attend, with financial support available to remove any cost barriers.
How You Can Help
We would greatly appreciate your support in promoting this opportunity to the young people within your networks, and any promotion of the programme online would be greatly appreciated. Our goal is to reach a diverse audience, especially young people who have yet to become active in the climate movement. By sharing this programme, you can help empower the next generation of climate leaders.
For more details and the application form, please visit our website: www.2050.scot/calp
We also have promotional materials available on our social media platforms:
Important Dates
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Application Deadline: Wednesday, 12th of August 2026
If you need any further information or would like to discuss this opportunity in more detail, please feel free to contact me. Additionally, answers to frequently asked questions can be found on our website.
Thank you for your support in helping us inspire and engage young people across Scotland.
All the best,
James Connelly (he/him)
Climate Action Leadership Programme (CALP) Volunteer
03/07/2026 Update
New Powers for Scotland’s Community Councils
Scotland's 1,200 community councils have no meaningful decision-making powers and virtually no money. By comparison, England's 10,000 parish councils can choose from a wide range of powers with budgets to match, promoting collective creativity and strengthening local democracy.
Should Symington Community Council have the same money and powers as England’s parish councils?
Click here to complete a survey and have your say.
Survey closes 24 July 2026
Survey results will feed into the wider ‘New Powers for Scotland's Community Councils?’ initiative overseen by the Scottish Forum of Community Councils.
01/05/2026 Update
The Community Council currently has the following vacancies:
23/03/2026 Update
Referring this Heartstart flyer in case anyone wants to organise a training session in the village - the Community Hall (Hall for All) has a defibrillator.
16/03/2026 Result of Community Council Full Elections
23/02/2026 Community-led Action Plan
Click here to view South Ayrshire Council's web page for 'Symington place plans', which includes a link to the Symington Community-led Action Plan for 2026 to 2030. As the final piece of community consultation, the community can comment on the Plan up until 27th February 2026. Please send any feedback to audrey.gatt@south-ayrshire.gov.uk or symingtoncc@hotmail.com
18/02/2026 Bus stop changes
The bus stop opposite Main Street, which used to pick up for Ayr, is being removed and, as the very poor sign within the stop states, alternative stops should be used. The Community Council is asking Ayrshire Roads Alliance to remove the bus stop ASAP in order to minimise the confusion for passengers.
30/01/26 Community Council Elections
Elections for Community Council membership are now underway.
If you are interested in becoming a member of the Community Council, Click here to view Candidate Nomination Pack, which includes the nomination form.
30/01/26
22/01/26 Townend House
Here are the minutes / notes of the two meetings held to-date with Enhance Healthcare.
Meeting 27/10/25 with Enhance Healthcare, Elena Whitham MSP, Councillors Julie Dettbarn and Stephen Ferry and members of the Symington Community Council.
Click here to view the notes take by Councillor Julie Dettbarn
Meeting 02/12/25 with Enhance Healthcare, Councillor Julie Dettbarn, residents of the Townend estate and members of Symington Community Council.
Click here to view minutes taken by Enhance Healthcare
Click here to view notes taken by Symington Community Council
18/11/25
SP Energy Networks is consulting on its Western Link 2, 'a new high voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea electrical link that will connect Ayrshire in Scotland with the transmission network in Wales'. Part of this link will bring subsea cables ashore near Monkton, which will then run to the Kilmarnock South converter station. Click here to view details of the plan and consultation.
29/10/25
2 planning applications for alterations to Townend House are now available on South Ayrshire Council's Planning portal. This link will take you to 'Search planning applications'. Type 'Symington' in the search box and click search.
Comments can be submitted by members of the public.
Simple Search
01/10/25
Townend Care Home future use - summary of comments raised at 16th September Community Council meeting
Click here to view the summary of comments
16/09/25
Plans for future use of Townend Care Home
Click here to view Enhance Healthcare's plans for future use of Townend Care Home
18/02/25
Equality Outcomes Survey
South Ayrshire Council and South Ayrshire Health & Social Care Partnership are reviewing their equality outcomes.
They have drafted 4 new outcomes and would like your opinions about these.
For more information and access to the survey click here
22/01/25 (updated 04/02/25)
Community Council By-elections 2025
Symington Community Council currently has 2 vacancies, which we are keen to fill in order for us to represent the community as much as possible. If you love Symington and want to help the community thrive and ensure all residents have a voice and can benefit from opportunities and developments available to local communities, please consider joining the Community Council.
Click here to view South Ayrshire Council's advert, which includes instructions for nomination submissions.
Please note that you can download a nomination form here - click here.
If you require a paper copy of the nomination form or have any questions, please contact the Community Council; symingtoncc@hotmail.com
The latest time for delivery of nomination papers is 4pm on Friday 14th February 2025
Click here to view 'Privacy Notice, Community Councillor Nominations'.
20/11/24
Connect South Ayrshire
Now officially launched, Connect South Ayrshire delivers integrated statutory, healthcare and voluntary services, with a clear focus on providing accessible information, advice and support across all our communities.
04/11/24
Help in a Power Cut - Support for the Community
29/10/24 email from SP Energy:
Good afternoon,
I’m one of the Social Obligations Coordinators for SP Energy Networks.
We’re looking to engage with as many of our customers as possible, to explain we’re not Scottish Power, we are the network provider SP Energy Networks, so anyone living within southern central Scotland, north west Wales, Merseyside, Cheshire and north Shropshire are our customers.
One of our main reasons we’re looking to engage is to ensure our vulnerable customers are added or updating their detail on the Priority Services Register. Once added this will ensure that during a power cut that we can tailor the support they need during this period and pro-actively keep them up to date where possible. I’ve attached the information in the form of a leaflet [click here to view leaflet] on who is applicable to be on the register. The register applies to households and not the individual, so we can take details for anyone in the residence all under one name (the person filling out the form).
Secondly we are looking to promote our additional services, which all come free of charge. We’ve partnered with various organisations that will help make customers’ homes as warm and as energy efficient as possible, to help reduce the rising costs of energy. We can also offer home fire safety checks, offer carers support and also look into income maximisation through benefit checks, this has in some cases led to backdated payments. I’ve also attached a leaflet [click here to view leaflet] referring to our additional services.
Besides this we will come out to any group with plenty of freebies which include winter packs, powercut light bulbs, torches, chargers etc.
Just to reiterate, all of our services are free, we’re really only looking to be able to reach as many of our customers as possible, we’re mostly doing this through warm spaces, luncheon clubs, coffee mornings, Pantries/Food Banks, drop in sessions/groups, etc. But we are open to suggestion on any groups that you might feel would also benefit from our support
28/10/24
We have extended the timescale for the community surveys, the responses to which will help develop a community-led action plan that sets out our priorities.
If you haven't already, please submit your completed questionnaire before the end of November:
October 2024
Burnbrae Woodland Proposal
This woodland has been proposed by the land owner; McTaggart and Meikle (by way of Walker Hines Woodland Services), primarily for economic value: timber and carbon credits. The Community Council's aim is to maximise the potential for habitat enhancement and increased biodiversity, along with the woodland's utility for the community. Click here for further details
15/10/24
13/08/24
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12/08/24
Volunteer Litter Picking Event
Walker Halls, Troon
Friday 27th September 2024
11am to 2pm
South Ayrshire Council have organised the above event to show their appreciation to our litter picking volunteers and to look at sharing good working practices to ensure we are supporting our volunteers with the amazing work they do.
Click here to apply for attendance
08.06.2024
