Land deal doubles the size of Stirling burgh

Stirling Town Council pulled off a successful land grab which more than doubled the size of the burgh, the Observer of March 1939 reported.

Government commissioners, sitting at Parliament House, Edinburgh, approved the Stirling Burgh extension order following a four-day inquiry, announcing their decision after a 15-minute recess.

The order gave the town council the go-ahead to annexe land which up to then had been controlled by Stirling County Council. It meant the 1446-acre burgh would increase in size by 1576 acres.

Added to the burgh, following the ruling, were areas such as Causewayhead, Cambuskenneth, Dowan Place, Dalmorglen Glen and part of Whins of Milton.

The Observer said: `”Notable historic sites wrested from the county include the Wallace

Monument , Cambuskenneth

Abbey and a portion of the field of Bannockburn. “

Stirling County Council opposed the move, arguing it would lead to a serious loss of revenue.

The town council’s case for the takeover was that part of the land they were eyeing was once within the `ancient bounds of the burgh’.

Custodians of the Wallace Monument were `agreeable’ to town council takeover and some repairs and improvements, to ease access to the site, were planned.

Those promoting the annexing of the land felt it `extremely proper’ that the Battle of Bannockburn site should be `brought under the influence of the burgh’.

Nine years earlier there was a danger of the `sacred site’ being built on and a movement came together in the burgh which led to the formation of a national committee which purchased the battlefield. It was the town council’s plan to have control of all of the area’s historic sites.

Counsel told the commissions it was 50 years since the boundaries were altered.

He explained that of the 1576 acres sought by the town council, 612 acres were either `part of the ancient royalty or part of Cowane’s Hospital lands, which were in the ownership of the town council.

The inquiry was also told the population of the burgh was growing, having been 16,013 at the 1881 Census, 21,345 by 1921 and 23,800 in 1939, while the density of persons per acre in 1939 was between 16 and 17. This was said to be `on the high side’.

Representatives of the town council said its rates were a shade lower than the county’s and, therefore, county ratepayers would not have to pay more if the change went ahead.

The town council representative said its housing programme was for the development of 2500 homes including 1739 to address `more or less immediate housing problems’ and 750 to cope with natural population growth. However, the authority had no more than 42 acres available for municipal housing within the burgh.

The county council had claimed its residents had no desire for change but counsel for the town council said: “People very often don’t know what is best for them.

At a subsequent meeting of the town council, preparations began for the coming into being on May 16, 1939 of `Greater Stirling’.

Town council officials were requested to contact their county council colleagues to arranging the transition of responsibilities. It was also agreed the town council would form a new water committee to take replace Stirling Waterworks