While East Ayrshire remains within Covid Protection Level 4, the Multi-Storey Car Park in Kilmarnock will stay open but will close earlier than normal. It will now open 06:30 to 18:30 Monday to Saturday. 

The processing of new parking permits within South Ayrshire was placed on hold due to the Covid 19 restrictions placed upon staff. Existing permit holders have been advised to continue displaying expired permits pending the resumption of services and we have been unable to process new applications.

We are pleased to announce that as of 24/08/2020 we are now able to process applications for permit renewals or for new applications. Any permit holder whose permit has expired since March 2020 must now apply and renew before 04/09/2020 as enforcement will commence shortly thereafter.

Customers are advised to contact the SAC Customer Services Team on 0300 123 0900 or by email on customerservices@south-ayrshire.gov.uk where they will receive the relevant advice.

Amended Arrangements

In line with Government guidelines, to reduce face to face contact where possible, we have developed a new process for issuing permits. ARA Parking Officers shall contact each individual permit holder, who’s permit has expired during lockdown, to advise they must renew their permit by the 04/09/2020. They will advise the permit holder to contact the Customer Service team on 0300 123 0900. The Customer Service team will process the permit details and take any associated payment.

Type A Residents Permits (£50 / annum or £16 / quarter)

Residents who’s permits expired during lockdown were advised to continue to display the expired permit and advised we would contact them at the relevant time to take payments for new permits which would be back dated to the previous permit expiry date. In order to keep things simple we are now proposing to start all renewed permits on 01/09/20. This will effectively mean resident parking was free during lockdown. All new Type A permits will be “virtual” and there will be no need to display anything within vehicles.

Type B Residents Permits (£0.50 one off charge)

Residents are entitled to 2 permits per household and the majority of these permits are given to visitors. Therefore, Vehicle Registration Mark (VRMs) are not requested or printed on the permits. We will continue to accommodate this permit system by having paper permits hand delivered pending a proposed review / overhaul of the permit system.

Car Park Permits (Season tickets)

Due to the fact that the car parks were closed from March 20 – May 20, car park permit holders will be offered a three month extension on their new permits effectively receiving 15 months for the price of 12 and the expiry date will be calculated from the date the permit is taken out. Again, permits will be “virtual” and so new permits will need to be allocated to a specific VRM which is a departure from what has been the case previously.

Should a permit holder confirm they will not be renewing their permit due to new home working arrangements we will offer them a pro rata refund.

Prestwick Residents Permits

The vast majority of permits are not due for renewal until Sept / Oct 2020 and so there are no issues regarding the expiry or permits during lockdown. However, as it is again proposed to now issue virtual permits, and in a further departure from the previous arrangements, permits will now be allocated to individual vehicles on confirmation of VRMs.

High Street Ayr Access and Loading Permits

Applicants should contact the Customer Service team on 0300 123 0900 who will process the permit by phone. In respect of Access Permits, applicants will no longer be required to produce two forms of ID to confirm residency as the Customer Service team are able to check internal systems.  Once checked a virtual permit will be issued.

Reporting roads, lighting and drainage faults has just been made easier with the launch of a new Ayrshire Roads Alliance online portal.

The Public Information Portal is map-based which means that residents in East and South Ayrshire who want to report a fault can identify the location on the map and leave a comment about the nature of the fault. They will then be given a reference number which they can use to go back online and check the status of the fault, as it moves from being reported to being worked on, to being completed.

For ease of use, residents can also search for the fault location by address, postcode or the reference number. Anyone looking at the map can also see at a glance which faults have already been reported by looking at the icons.

The portal is only intended for reporting general faults, and any emergency faults should be reported directly to ARA by calling 0345 724 0000 for East Ayrshire Council and 0300 123 0900 for South Ayrshire Council.

Councillor Jim Roberts, Cabinet Member for Economy and Infrastructure at East Ayrshire Council, said: “We created this new portal to make it easier for residents to report roads and lighting faults and to give them a simple way to check the progress of the fault they have reported. It will help to streamline our fault handling process and we hope that our residents will find the map-based format quick and easy to use.”

Councillor Ian Cochrane, Environment Portfolio Holder for South Ayrshire Council said: “This portal is set to transform the way faults are reported, and underlines our continued investment in roads and street lighting. We rely heavily on the public when it comes to reporting faults, so the easier the process is, the better. I am sure the new portal will prove to be a success, and a huge advantage when it comes to the ongoing improvement of our roads network.”

Visit the portal at https://www.ayrshireroadsalliance.org/Faults/Faults.aspx

From 24th March 2020 as part of the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Ayrshire Roads Alliance offices within East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire are no longer open.

During this time we are focusing on winter gritting and emergency works.

Emergencies can be reported to the East Ayrshire Council Helpline on 0345 724 0000.