Fun fair boasting giant wheel which ran during last year's Open Championship heading back to Ayrshire
Irvine will welcome the major fairground later this month.
A fun fair featuring the acclaimed giant wheel which ran during last year's Open Championship at Royal Troon and the Largs Viking Festival has been given the green light to come to Irvine later this month.
This is despite concerns voiced by an objector who lives a stone’s throw away from the event, although the applicant made some concessions.
The exciting spring attraction will be staged at Irvine Moor, venue of the Marymass Shows, from Friday, April 25 until Sunday, May 11.
It is being run by Thomsons Event Group, who were awarded a temporary public entertainments licence by North Ayrshire Licensing Committee on Wednesday.
The company have run previous events in England, Scotland and Saudi Arabia with other Scottish venues including Stirling and Clackmannanshire, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee.
They also ran a fair at the successful Christmas markets at St Enoch’s Centre and George Square.
Applicant John Thomson appeared before the committee.
He revealed that a fully secured perimeter fence will surround the arena in time for the event.
Officials on site will have high vis vests and there will be a very strict alcohol and drugs policy inside the arena.
There will be a wristband system in place and customers pay once and then rides are free.
This allows organisers to keep track on site numbers.
Any potential troublemakers would be refused entry.
No loud music of any nature would be playing and there will only be background sound on a couple of rides. The company had a ride at Marymass 2022 and 2023.
Mr Thomson said: "I hope I can add excitement to Irvine and something to look forward to."
Objector Barry Campbell lives on Williamfield, which is only a “few paces away" from the site.
Noise pollution, he said, may become “unbearable” after a few days with a rollercoaster, big wheel and 40m high booster, a sizeable fair.
He suggested emergency vehicles would not be able to access houses with ease.
But Licensing chair, Eleanor Collier, said the site had been looked at very closely.
At previous fairs at the venue, he said he had witnessed teen fighting, under-age drinking and fire-raising on the moorland.
Mr Campbell questioned the suitability of grass moorland for this event as it could create “a filthy quagmire” for vehicles if it rained.
He added that his son was studying for exams, with his first assessment on April 25. His wife worked from home and this would be a disturbance and you would hear the fair from every room in the house.
Mr Thomson made a concession by saying that instead of opening every day he would be closed from Mondays to Wednesdays, and open on Thursdays and Fridays, from 6pm until 8.30pm and Saturdays and Sundays, from 1pm until 8.30pm.
He said Irvine was an “ideal location” for the fair.
A motion by cllr Donald L Reid, seconded by cllr Christina Larsen to grant the licence, was unanimously passed by the committee.
Mr Thomson and Mr Campbell shook hands after the meeting.
Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines –