A workshop event designed to test public opinion regarding what the priorities should be in the bid to enhance Rothesay's historic town centre has been hailed a big success.

The Place Making session in the town's Pavilion, facilitated by Greenspace Scotland, attracted some 50 people keen to share their ideas.

A wide range of groups were represented, from residents and business owners to representatives from statutory bodies and community groups.

Everyone had an idea of how to enhance the Rothesay experience. Among the issues explored were how user-friendly the town is for pedestrians and vehicles, how the pier links with the town, how the spaces could be better utilised and how the town could be enhanced visually.

Participants were split into three groups, with each group given an hour in which to assess a particular area. They were asked to consider the positive and negative aspects of the streets and spaces, and encouraged to think about how to make improvements.

Councillor Len Scoullar, Chair of the Rothesay CHORD Project Board, said: "There were numerous suggestions which will now be developed into short and long-term action plans by Greenspace Scotland.

"Among them were simple things like cheering up the gap sites with wild flowers, but also larger projects such as building an iron band stand in the middle of Guildford Square, and increasing the amount of public art within Rothesay.

"All groups said that they could see the potential in the historic buildings if they were restored to their former glory, and all groups brought up the possibility of relocating car parking away from the Guildford Square area to make this more pedestrian and event friendly.

"It was an extremely useful exercise, and I would like to thank all those people who took part. Their contribution is much appreciated."

After coming up with an action plan, Greenspace Scotland will invite key people back to see whether some of the ideas can be put into practice.

In addition, all comments will be fed into a master planning exercise which will be undertaken in March as part of the development of Rothesay Townscape Heritage Initiative.