Cut of the cards unlikely to be needed to settle control of the council this time round

AT the election four years ago, Labour and the Conservatives recorded 15 seats apiece after a notable effort on the part of the latter to win its first unitary authority.

With no overall control, a cut of the cards was required, after which Labour took control of a minority administration. The party political power base in the local authority soon shifted, however, after a rigorous and at times bitter battle.

In November 2005, Andy Hill, the Labour leader, abruptly resigned, citing health grounds. That led to Tory councillors unseating the Labour provost and his deputy, installing two women in their place.

Labour councillors tried legal moves to block the meeting's power to change the leadership, but they failed and walked out in protest at the 15/14 split, leaving them out of power. It marked the first time the Tories had gained power on a Scottish council for nine years.

Recently, the Conservative-led council announced the largest hike in council tax across the entire country, with rates going up 4.5%. Coupled with ongoing redundancies, it has led to the Tories getting something of an unfortunate reputation in the run-up to the election, which will be contested over eight wards, with 30 councillors elected.

To an extent, Ayr, the largest town in the region, is a marginal Labour area, one where plush locales are as common as run-down, isolated estate communities, with the local economy somewhat dependent on the defence industry in and around Prestwick.

Neighbouring Troon, home to many affluent retirees, can be considered something more of a Conservative stronghold. Similarly, to the south, communities such as Alloway and Girvan are tinged with a blue hue.

In terms of tourism and culture, the next administration will preside over a key period, with 2009 the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns's birth, a date also marked as the year of homecoming for the Scots diaspora.

Much will be made by the current administration of a £300m plan to regenerate Ayr town centre. The 20-year masterplan will see the town's Burns Statue Square reconstructed, creating a public plaza, hotels, a new shopping centre, and housing.

Such plans though, are but blueprints at the moment for the cash-starved administration, charged with making £14m in savings. In recent months, the council has begun considering making up to 150 staff redundant. Yet, at the same time, it suffered the embarrassing revelation that six of the local authority's 13 heads of department had laid claim to significant pay increases at a confidential meeting.

Furthermore, in the past year, it has disbanded its department of environment and infrastructure, which has resulted in scores of redundancies.

To its relief, the council has recently signed a £76m PPP deal to build three new primary and two secondary schools, after six years of negotiations and wrangling. The council's school estate plan had previously come in for heavy criticism over proposals to build one school on common good land.

Then under Labour control, the plans were rejected en masse at a specially convened public planning meeting.

A secondary school in Ayr, branded a health hazard by inspectors, is understood to be earmarked for closure altogether. Mainholm Academy was found to have asbestos and construction problems, as well as severe water, gas, and electrical faults.