Kirstein Rummery
“I’ve been listening to my neighbours, colleagues and wider community in this campaign and we are united on the issue that Stirling, although a lovely place to live and work, badly needs some investment to improve facilities and economic infrastructure. The Stirling City deal is a good example of where politics and citizens can work together to achieve things if they listen to each other, and also a good example of what can go wrong when it is‘politics as usual’and some people’s experiences simply don’t form part of the discussion.
The proposals for the harbour to create a National Tartan Centre and third sector innovation looks exciting. But I wonder which groups were involved in drawing up the plans and whether they really thought about the needs of everyone. How accessible will this area be to parents with young children, to disabled people, to older people? Tartan is commonly associated with a slightly limited, militaristic view of Scottish history: what about women’s history? Do we really need more pipes and battles as our portrayal of Stirling? We have a far richer cultural scene than that to offer.
The Digital District and the Grow-on Space has the potential to really open up commerce and access to small and medium enterprises: these are more likely to be run by women and they are often the backbone of local economies. However they also suffer from a lack of attention to important issues like business rates, parking, accessibility, flexibility and so on. The Albert Halls is currently a great and underused venue, but it is also difficult to park, inaccessible to a lot of disabled people and people with young children, and public transport is not good in that area. Has this been considered? If not, why not? Where are the women’s voices helping to plan these things?
I am also keen to see that the benefits of the City Park, the River and the Mercat Cross are extended to everyone in the community. Has the expertise of the Dementia Services Development Centre – a world leading research and design centre at the University of Stirling – been used to ensure that these place form part of a dementia-friendly community?”