Fairer funding needed to run vital services

STIRLING COUNCIL LEADER

I’ve written for the Stirling Observer on and off for 25 years, first as an entertainments reporter, then with a weekly column and now as Stirling Council leader.

I’ll mainly focus on council matters, but as a proud‘son of the Rock’, I may focus on other aspects of Stirling life along the way.

First, good luck to all pupils in S4-S6 as the 2023 exams get underway this week.

Trust in yourself, your preparation, your family and your teachers who’ve helped get you to this point and know that there are many people proud of what you’ve already achieved and excited to see what comes next.

Stirling is bucking a national trend of library closures in the face of budget pressures.

The new Strathblane library looks fantastic and is attracting national interest with its innovative funding model.

Over a quarter of Strathblane residents contributed to a crowdfunding campaign for a new building, with the council leasing space from the community to run the library.

The exciting Cowie Community hub and library opens this week as does the first entirely new library in a long time at Cornton.

There is much more to libraries than book lending.

Libraries offer supported access to the internet through the‘it and Me’ service and you can borrow ipads that connect to the internet at home.

‘Makers Spaces’offer everything from 3D printers to jewellery tools to help you get creative.

Libraries offer spaces to learn, meet and engage. Libraries enrich the soul of our communities.

Councils must continue to run libraries, but budget pressures are making it harder to protect services, never mind grow them.

That’s why we must have a fairer funding settlement from the Scottish Government, who allocate 80 per cent of the council’s budget yet this year gave your local services a pay rise of just 0.05 per cent.

I enjoyed the‘open Streets’ event in Stirling last weekend and the city had a lively energy to it.

I hope it sparks a debate around how we all engage with our core city centre.

Removing traffic alone isn’t an answer, but if there is a shared vision with businesses, services and citizens that could improve the city centre, that is a conversation I would enjoy having.

Congratulations to Stirling’s newly elected community councillors and good luck with your term in office.

Whether commenting on planning applications, accessing money for local projects, working collaboratively (or being a critical friend) to public organisations, I cannot stress enough how much of a positive difference an organised and engaged community council can make in a community.

I remember advice I was given when first elected to always seek out and listen to everybody in your community, not just those you agree with.

Focus on the positives and the possibilities, not just the problems you encounter.

Find time to think creatively about what you can do to improve the lives of people in your community.

You are embarking on a worthwhile experience, and I hope you enjoy it.

There is a meeting of Stirling Council on May 4, with the agenda published on Friday.

You can watch council meetings live (or recordings) on the council website.

Broadcasting offers a window into local democracy and I would encourage anybody to watch and if you’ve got any comments on what you see, I’m sure your local councillor would love to hear them.

Finally, I have a regular email newsletter with more thoughts and observations on Stirling life which you can subscribe to at chriskane. substack.com.

Over the last couple of years I have discovered a genteel walk around Craigforth along a willow-lined stretch of river and the foot of Craigforth craig.

Other folk have been using this route for some time.

Over the last two years I have witnessed the demise of the office blocks there, as one after the other were abandoned.

The transfer of a children’s nursery which was using part of the ancient Craigforth House which looks over the business park has also rendered this iconic, centuries old building, abandoned and now boarded up.

Just below the house was a very old statue of a unicorn, now gone.

The once praised offices, offering employment to so many, are now due for demolition.

A very appropriate and sensitive whisky distillery plan was submitted for planning approval.

This was denied by Stirling Council.

I fear for the integrity of that area now.

The pressure on the craig with its ancient woodland and river from extra residents so near.

What of the centuries old Craigforth House?

What will happen to what remains of this iconic Stirlingshire estate?

I have researched the Craigforth Estate history as far as I can, but cannot find out who owns it now.

Our river and estate landscapes are being eaten up by new housing in every direction from Stirling City.

What will we soon see from Stirling Castle?

Houses and industrial areas as far as the eye can see, instead of ancient landscapes which, ironically, is what tourists comes to see and local folk value.

It is also the one of the reasons why people want to live in Stirlingshire.

Gillian Christie Stirling

Unsaferoute Dear Editor,

For many years it has been obvious that the route from Causewayhead to

I have raised this a couple of times over the last 15 years.

Promises were made when the authorities were questioned that it was being looked in to and a cycle/pedestrian path was pending,

“We are in discussions with the landowner.,” was the excuse.

It is now clear those discussions must have faltered because the solution now appears to be to put cycle symbols on the road and reduce the speed limit to 30mph.

How does this make the route any safer?

Would anyone dare take their child on a bike on this road?

The answer is no.

Given the amount of money being spent in this area on cycle lanes this solution is a sticking plaster, the lack of a proper cycle lane to join up with the excellent cycle routes in Clackmannan is a disgrace.

I wonder what the excuse will be this time?

Robert Mclaren Stirling

Last week, we reported how residents across Stirling were left confused and angered after a fireworks display lit up the skies over Stirling Castle.

The display took place shortly after 10pm, with locals taking to social media to hit out at the lack of communication over the event.

A notice posted in advance by events management company 21CC Group said there was to be a ‘five-minute display’over the Castle between 10pm and 11pm. But that message didn’t seem to have reached many in the community, with most left in the dark over the reasoning for the fireworks.

Tracey Toher said:“lived below the castle my whole life and we’ve never been informed about when there will be fireworks.”

Hilary Strathern posted: “Absolutely traumatised my dogs, they were terrified.”

Tracy Fell stated:“woke me up 10.40pm and we are in braehead. Thought someone was breaking into my house. Got the fright of my life. Struggled to get back to sleep so thanks for that.”

Mairi Henderson wrote:“i would imagine most people have heard hundreds, if not thousands, of fireworks going off in their lifetime and never a gun shot. Why would your first assumption be a sound you’ve never or rarely heard and not the logical sound we hear literally all the time? I’d rather be inconvenienced by fireworks compared to what some people are experiencing in the world and find something more worthwhile to put my energy into.”

A residential girls school in the centre of Stirling could be turned into the city’s first‘aparthotel’.

Kaas Ventures Ltd have submitted planning and listed building applications to Stirling Council for alterations and a change of use of C-listed Snowdon House in Spittal Street. The plans are for a 20-bed aparthotel, including 12 bedrooms in the existing building and a further eight in a new extension, plus alterations to a vehicular access, new parking and landscaping.

Lyn Pedder Mathieson replied: “Good news. We’ve got to use and maintain our beautiful old buildings.”

And John Pryde said:“a welcome plan .”