Stevenston Masterplan (draft) The outline plans presented in this document crystallise the community’s aspirations for Stevenston, as revealed through various public consultations conducted over the past 10 years by Irvine Bay URC, North Ayrshire Council (i.e. the Three Towns Charrette) and community groups. The plans recognise Stevenson’s green spaces, especially its coastline, as its most important asset. The town’s green spaces should be protected from built development and improved to increase their amenity, environmental and economic value. Central to the urban realm developments in the town should be the regeneration of the town centre. There should be no tinkering around the edges: the town centre requires radical structural redevelopment, along with regeneration of its derelict sites, in order to become vibrant, attractive and highly functioning. Importantly, Stevenston should be marketed appropriately, so that potential visitors are aware of the town’s attractions. Masterplan summary: 1. Regenerate the town centre • Make radical structural changes to the basic built fabric of the town centre, knocking down and rebuilding as required to create an inviting civic space and retail offer. In conjunction with this, the town centre should be made more attractive by improving the shop fronts and open spaces, and better maintaining the flower beds. The town centre requires a significant structural reorganisation. 2. Improve town centre parking • Provide enough car parking to satisfy the needs of visitors to the town centre. 3. Develop derelict buildings and gap sites • Develop the derelict buildings and concrete footprints in urban Stevenston. These include: o the former Rankin’s pub o the site of the former Lonsdale/Grangeknowe pub o Africa House o the site of the former Ardeer Primary School in Garven Road Derelict sites such as Africa House need to be regenerated. 4. Improve the town’s heritage trails • Improve the paths up to and around Kerelaw Castle. This would involve removing the historic litter on the Glencairn Street embankment and widening the paths and repairing the safety fences between Glencairn Street and Campbell Avenue. • Bring into public ownership the land immediately upstream of the Kerelaw Glen path, and perhaps part of the old Kerelaw Estate, to significantly expand the path network so as to attract more visitors to the castle and its environs and provide the community with better opportunities for walking and other informal recreation. The path network connecting to Kerelaw Castle should be improved for local people and visitors. 5. Improve the facilities at Stevenston Beach • Create a café and public toilets at Stevenston Beach to increase the amenity value of the area for visitors and local residents. • Expand the playpark with better children’s play facilities. Stevenston Beach Park would greatly benefit from a café and toilet facilities. 6. Improve the marketing of Stevenston • Erect information boards at the train station, beach and town centre to make visitors aware of the town’s attractions (such as the town centre, Stevenston beach and Kerelaw Castle) and to effectively market the town to those passing through on trains. • Increase the number and quality of flower beds at the train station to create a more positive impression of Stevenston among people passing through the station. • Create a website that markets Stevenston to potential new residents, visitors and businesses. Even the remote corners of Dalry train station are designed to be attractive. Stevenston should follow suit. 7. Protect the town’s green spaces • Protect the town’s green spaces – including those at Auchenharvie, Ardeer Quarry, Kerelaw and the Ardeer Peninsula – from built development. As well as having inherent environmental and cultural value, they are important community assets, providing significant health benefits to the town. They are also a significant economic asset in that they attract both visitors and new residents to Stevenston. The town’s green spaces, such as the wild habitats on the Ardeer Peninsula, should be protected from built development and marketed as a green tourist attraction. 8. Utilise the Ardeer Peninsula • Focus built development on the Ardeer Peninsula at the Stevenston end, where there are over 100 acres of concrete footprint behind Stevenston Industrial Estate and on the former nylon plant site. The natural assets on the other parts of the former ICI site should be utilised as sustainable tourist and community assets, in line with NGO (Scottish Wildlife Trust, RSPB, etc) proposals for the site: a forest park, wetland bird reserve, and sand dune country park. Access to the Ardeer Peninsula and its attractions should be from Stevenston rather than Irvine. Similarly, a refurbished Africa House, rather than the Big Idea, should be the visitor hub for the peninsula. Built development on the Ardeer Peninsula should be focussed on Stevenston Industrial Estate and its environs, which contain over 100 acres of brownfield land. 9. Provide better facilities for the town’s young people • Provide play parks (i.e. swings etc.) in several locations around the town. They represent a very important amenity for young families. • Provide regular evening events and activities for young people, especially teenagers, in the local community centres. • Provide more opportunities for young people to influence decision making about their town’s future and about the activities and amenities provided for them. Local play parks were a core facility throughout Stevenston, but most have been removed in recent years. Produced by Stevenston Community Council, May 2019 .