Integrated Urban Development Plan (pdf) - Make It Kilmarnock

The conservation area provides some of the highest quality
environments in Kilmarnock. The fact that the conservation
area designation includes both sides of John Finnie Street
and extends west from there to include a range of mixed use
properties means that although the street is part of the oneway
system, it is rather less intrusive and difficult to cross
that other parts of the gyratory. However John Finnie Street
is in need of considerable improvement if it is to become
not only a significant planned street with good architecture
but also a social space where people congregate and feel
comfortable.
River and greenspace:
One of Kilmarnock’s undiscovered gems is the Kilmarnock
Water which flows through the town centre from north to
south. Many attractive towns and cities are famous for their
relationship with a river or waterway. Usually the town has
embraced the river in some form and provides a means of
accessing its banks or simply watching the water – this in
turn attracts people to the river and often encourages the
development of promenade cafes and social spaces.
The Kilmarnock Water and Sandbed Street
In contrast, the Kilmarnock Water is largely hidden from
view. The Burns Mall shopping centre is built over it there are
no views of it from King Street or Bank Street. Three bridges
and Sandbed Street provide the only means of getting close
to the river. At the same time just beyond the town centre
to the north east, the Kilmarnock Water flows through Kay
Park until it disappears behind the Palace Theatre. In the
south west, the river opens out into Howard Park providing a
picturesque focus for this popular greenspace.
There is enormous potential to establish a more positive
relationship between the town centre and the Kilmarnock
Water in which the river becomes a more obvious and
integral part of a high quality town centre environment. A
more positive relationship might also involve using the river
to improve connections with the town centre and the rest of
the town through a series of comfortable pedestrian spaces
and linking footpaths. Such a footpath system could also
encompass a wider green network throughout the town. In
other words, the blue and green network traced out by the
Kilmarnock Water and the existing parks and Core Paths
could be enlarged and integrated into a town-wide system
focused on links to the town centre. Such a network would
link people, places and habitats.
12 | MAKE IT KILMARNOCK BOARD | EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL