Kilmarnock's John Finnie Street is to be restored due to further funding from East Ayrshire Council's Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI).

The initiative will see a number of the street's Victorian buildings restored to their former glory, ensuring they are saved for future generations.

Eleven buildings have already benefited from the Conservation Area regeneration Scheme (CARS) funding and work is expected to begin on a further eight through the THI. Another two projects are also believed to be in the pipeline.

Councillor Jim Buchanan, East Ayrshire Council spokesperson for delivering community regeneration, said: "Although our CARS/THI team has been working hard for some time now with the owners of buildings to bring about these projects, we're really just starting to see the fantastic results taking shape. We have reached a tipping point, where people can see a noticeable difference in John Finnie Street and the surrounding area and I’m excited to see more scaffolding going up.


"We have a tremendously rich built heritage in Kilmarnock, but after years of wear and tear, many of our buildings were looking past their best – in some cases they were in danger of becoming derelict – for many owners repair costs were an astronomical burden and particularly in multiple occupancy buildings it was hard to get agreement to common repairs. But thanks to the dedication of our team we have managed to bring the owners together and offer them affordable solutions which will safeguard these architectural gems for the future."

Mr Buchanan added that the restoration work would also breathe "new life into the heart of the town."

A number of properties have already benefited from the scheme. They have been made possible through the partnership between the council, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic Scotland and Scottish Enterprise.

(JP)