Articles
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Our Story - where we are
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Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire
East Ayrshire lies in south-central Scotland. It shares boundaries with:
The area comprises a network of interconnected rural communities, many of which were historically shaped by coal mining and heavy industry, alongside larger settlements including Kilmarnock, Cumnock, and Stewarton.
With a population of approximately 121,600, East Ayrshire is one of Scotland’s most significant regional authority areas. Kilmarnock, situated in the north of the region, is the largest town and principal population centre, with around 47,000 residents. As the administrative, commercial, and cultural heart of East Ayrshire, Kilmarnock plays a critical role in supporting the wider area’s economic and social prosperity.
Kilmarnock benefits from excellent transport links. The town’s railway and bus stations provide regular services to Glasgow in the north and Dumfries and Galloway in the south. The town is also a key commuter destination, with strong road connections via the M77 to Glasgow and convenient links to Irvine, Ayr, and the wider South West Scotland region.
As East Ayrshire’s largest urban centre, Kilmarnock Town Centre serves as a focal point for investment, growth, and regeneration. Its success is intrinsically linked to the prosperity of the wider region, acting as both a destination and service centre for residents, businesses, and visitors. Revitalising the town centre will therefore deliver far-reaching economic, social, and environmental benefits, supporting sustainable growth and enhancing the quality of life across East Ayrshire and the wider Ayrshire region.
Through targeted investment and a coordinated regeneration strategy, Kilmarnock Town Centre has the potential to reinforce and grow its role as the region’s civic, commercial, and cultural heart, creating a more attractive, resilient, and vibrant place for future generations
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Getting the basics right
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Successful regeneration begins with getting the fundamentals right. Creating a town centre that is safe, clean, and accessible is essential to attracting investment, supporting businesses, and encouraging people to live, work, and spend time in the town centre.
High-quality public spaces, well-maintained streets, and an inclusive environment provide the foundation for sustainable economic growth and long-term confidence. By prioritising these core principles, the masterplan aims to create the conditions necessary for future investment and lasting regeneration success.
Early impact:
Temporary urbanism uses short team low cost interventions to test ideas and bring empty or underused places back into use before permanent redevelopment.
Examples can include:
- pop up retail
- community gardens
- outdoor seating
- container cafes
- food markets, mini parks, performance spaces, events-based regeneration
Our story, good news stories
Celebrating success:
By celebrating our successes, we can cultivate positive sentiments about Kilmarnock, inspiring pride in place, strengthening the town’s reputation, and encouraging people to champion Kilmarnock as a great place to live, work, visit, and invest.
Understanding town trends:
Understanding the social and economic trends within Kilmarnock Town Centre is essential to identifying where investment is most needed and the challenges that must be addressed.
These trends provide the evidence base for targeted interventions that support regeneration, strengthen the local economy, and improve the town centre’s long-term resilience.
The decline of the traditional retail core, particularly along King Street, is a key example of these challenges.
Changes in consumer behaviour, increasing vacancy rates, and reduced footfall have weakened the vitality of this important commercial area, highlighting the need to diversify uses, enhance the public realm, and encourage new forms of investment that will help re-establish the town centre as a vibrant destination.
Current trends:
- Night-time economy at the Cross is increasing with businesses such as The Little Art Factory, Ayrshire Film Company and Dice Grounds opening later for classes and evening events
- Titchfield Street occupancy rates increasing
- High Occupancy at Foregate Shops
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Background
Share Background on Facebook Share Background on X (formerly Twitter) Share Background on Linkedin Email Background linkKilmarnock’s Percy Johnson Marshall Masterplan (late 1960s–1970s)
Percy Johnson Marshall sketchThe redevelopment of Kilmarnock town centre in the 1970s was guided by a masterplan prepared by the renowned planner Percy Johnson-Marshall and his consultancy, Percy Johnson-Marshall and Associates. Commissioned by Kilmarnock Town Council in 1966, the plan aimed to solve worsening traffic congestion while modernising the town centre for the age of the motor car. The central area plan was developed between 1968 and 1971.
The Vision - 1970s
The Masterplan proposed
- A new inner road system to divert traffic away from historic streets.
- Large pedestrian shopping precincts.
- Modern shopping centres, including the Foregate development.
- Up to seven multi-storey car parks across the town centre to accommodate increasing car ownership.
- New office developments and civic buildings.
- Extensive demolition of older buildings considered obsolete at the time.
Areas affected
The bus station vision from Percy Johnson MarshallThe plan dramatically reshaped central Kilmarnock. Demolition included parts of:- Portland Street
- King Street
- West George Street
- John Finnie Street
- Numerous older closes, lanes and Victorian commercial buildings
Only part of the overall scheme was ever completed, but enough was built to permanently change the town’s historic street pattern.
Proposals that were never built:
Some of the most ambitious ideas remained on paper:
- Seven multi-storey car parks (only one was ultimately built).
- Wholesale redevelopment of the Newton district.
- More extensive road construction through the town centre.
- Additional commercial complexes that were abandoned as economic conditions worsened during the 1970s.
Legacy
The scheme reflected the dominant planning philosophy of the 1960s, prioritising traffic flow and modern retail development over historic urban fabric. While it improved vehicle access and created new shopping space, many residents and historians later criticised the loss of historic streets and buildings.
Today, the Percy Johnson-Marshall plans are often cited as one of Scotland’s most significant examples of post-war comprehensive town-centre redevelopment.
The original drawings, maps and models for the Kilmarnock project are preserved in the University of Edinburgh’s Percy Johnson-Marshall Collection, where they document both the implemented and unbuilt proposals.
The next chapter- why we need a Masterplan
The Kilmarnock Town Centre Masterplan will represent a significant shift in planning philosophy from the post-war vision that shaped much of the town centre during the 1970s. While the original Percy Johnson-Marshall masterplan reflected the priorities of its time, accommodating the car, separating pedestrians from traffic, and promoting large-scale retail-led redevelopment, the new masterplan seeks to create a more resilient, inclusive and people-centred town.
In many respects, the Vision for our new Masterplan reverses some of the assumptions that underpinned the original Johnson-Marshall plan.
Rather than designing the town around vehicles and single-purpose land uses, it places people, community and quality of place at the heart of regeneration. It recognises that successful town centres are not defined solely by shopping but by their ability to support everyday life through housing, employment, culture, learning, recreation and social interaction.
This new chapter does not reject Kilmarnock’s planning history , instead it builds upon it, responding to contemporary challenges with a vision that is more flexible, sustainable and rooted in local identity.
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Investment and the Ayrshire Growth Deal
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The Ayrshire Growth Deal (AGD) is one of Scotland’s largest regional investment programmes and is expected to play a significant role in the long-term economic transformation of Kilmarnock and the wider East Ayrshire area. It is a partnership between the UK Government, Scottish Government, and the three Ayrshire councils.
For Kilmarnock, the Ayrshire Growth Deal represents the most significant coordinated public investment programme in decades. If delivered successfully, it has the potential to:
- Diversify the local economy beyond traditional industries
- Establish Kilmarnock as a regional innovation hub
- Improve employment prospects and wages
- Stimulate substantial private investment
- Contribute to long-term, inclusive economic growth across East Ayrshire
Economic growth priorities
The Growth Deal focuses on sectors where Ayrshire has competitive strengths, including:
- Aerospace and space
- Renewable energy and the circular economy
- Advanced manufacturing
- Tourism
- Digital technology
- Engineering
Expected benefits for Kilmarnock
The deal aims to:
- Create higher-value employment opportunities.
- Increase productivity and innovation.
- Attract domestic and international investment.
- Improve skills and workforce participation.
- Strengthen supply chains for local businesses.
- Regenerate key employment sites and support town-centre renewal.
Our story, creating impact
Building on Investment:
Kilmarnock Town Centre has already benefited from investment through a number of transformational projects, including the Palace Theatre and Grand Hall, The HALO, the Ingram Enterprise Centre, the Bus Station Transport Hub, and the demolition of the former multi-storey car park.
This masterplan builds upon these investments by delivering high-quality, lasting change across the town centre.
It focuses on:
- Addressing the remaining gaps in the town’s urban fabric,
- Improving design quality, public spaces, movement, and infrastructure to reconnect key destinations
- And create a more cohesive, vibrant, and attractive town centre for residents, businesses, and visitors.
The Kilmarnock Masterplan will build on all the work achieved so far adopting a focused and coordinated approach to regeneration.
This will involve completing areas where regeneration has already begun, ensuring that existing investment is fully realised and that regeneration projects are brought to a successful conclusion.