News
Partial Closure of A9 from January 14 will affect the Town!
Read the Stirlng Observer Articles
Local Concerns re Rail Bridge and Damaged Wall in Perth Road
Read the Stirlng Observer Article about the Bridge
Here is the 28 November Stirlng Observer Article about the Wall
Here is the 21 November Stirlng Observer Article about the Wall
Alex fences his way down under
New Owner at Old Churches House
Stirling Observer Picks up the Pink Benches Story !
From Facebook : Dear Stirling Council, please bring back our benches!
#bringbackourbenches #pinkbenches
Nora GilfillantoDunblane Development Trust I thought the pink benches were lovely - sad they have gone
Hamilton Rach Why did the go ??
Beth Boyd Hopefully to be repainted!!!!
Ann Robertson The volunteers spent a lot of time painting them. Maybe not to everyones taste but certainly colourful??
Alan Smeaton Why/who removed them? Does anyone have contact details?
Jane Stewart Disgraceful that after all that work the council come in & whip them away without a word & the cost? Council must have money to burn!!!!
Karen Patrick They looked great ..
Louise Owen #bringbackourbenches #pinkbenches
Nora Gilfillan I thought they were beautiful and fun - a change from black or dark green. It is the first time in my life that I ever stopped and took photos of park benches. (I’m glad I did) It was a lovely sunny day and they made me smile. With all the beautiful pink and purple flowers around they looked great .... in my opinion..... but then I love colour ??????????
Ros Walker Noooooooooo!
Helen Dixon Beautiful
Victoria Hall Dunblane people walking through this area will want to sit down and soak up the lovely atmosphere all year, not just in the summer. so hope Stirling Council bring them back soon
Margaret Lawrie Why have benches been removed and who removed them ?? Where they removed because someone didnt like colour - surely not - made you smile!
Arlene Lindsay Just like they need to bring back all the toilets too. A disgrace they havent got any now
Stirling-Dunblane-Alloa Electrification update
Following the successful completion of recent engineering works along the Stirling - Dunblane – Alloa (SDA) railway we are now moving to the next stage of making the line Live.
The initial electrification of the SDA route between Greenhill Junction, Polmont Junction, Grangemouth Junction and Larbert Junction was completed and made live in May 2018. The final section from Larbert Junction to Stirling, Dunblane and Alloa will be live for testing from Sunday 4th November. Network Rail is advising lineside communities that the overhead lines will be LIVE and DANGEROUS.
Electrification of the railway will means increased capacity on routes by improving the infrastructure to enable longer, faster and greener modern electric trains to run.
With the overhead lines carrying a deadly 25,000 volts of electricity, our primary focus is ensuring the safety of our lineside neighbours. We have an on-going programme to raise awareness about the changes to the railway, particularly among young people.
Supported by the British Transport Police (BTP), we have already initiated visits to schools across the SDA route to deliver a series of workshops to warn of the dangers of trespassing on rail lines or playing near electric power cables.
Safety notification leaflets are also being distributed to lineside neighbours and schools in your constituency.
This rolling programme of activity will continue throughout the year, where in addition to BTP’s activity, we will also deliver sport workshops to highlight the changes to the railway environment and further reinforce the safety message.
In addition to all schools receiving the safety notification leaflet, we are also encouraging teachers to deliver lesson plans from electrification and rail safety resources available via our website at www.networkrail.co.uk/communities/safety-in-the-community/safety-education
Adverts will also feature within the local press to raise awareness amongst drivers and communities who live near and travel through Level Crossings on the Stirling to Bridge of Allan line and also the Alloa line, to ensure they consider the height of their vehicle in relation to the live overhead equipment.
I hope that this gives you a flavour of the activity we have planned for your constituency. We would welcome your support in communicating our safety messages and ask that you circulate the attached leaflet via your own social media platforms and community websites and follow and Retweet information posted via @NetworkRailEGIP
Please do not hesitate to contact me via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you wish to receive further information or have any questions. I have included a link to a short film that talks about the wider electrification programme across central Scotland’s railway: https://network-rail.wistia.com/medias/q6ls21jur4
Dave Boyce, Senior Communications Manager, Network Rail, Scotland
Dunblane Community Council has 11 new members
Alan Booth
Christina Feaks
Craig French
Rosemary Hunter
Anna Jarchow-MacDonald
Galen Milne
Andrew Mitchell
Sharon Mylchreest
Fiona Plumtree
David Prescott
Chris Toop
For more information on the Election process please follow the link: https://my.stirling.gov.uk/services/community-life-and-leisure/community-information/community-councils-and-assemblies/community-council-elections
Starting on October 15, a series of Big Conversation events will take place across the Stirling Council area as part of our aim of putting communities at the heart of our budget planning.
The Council needs to make £24million of savings over the next five years, which means transforming the way we deliver our services and making some tough decisions. As part of this process we want to have an open and honest discussion about the services that are most important to you.
We will be hosting Big Conversations in the community. All are from 7.00pm till 9.00pm and open to everyone.
* On Monday 22 October the Big Conversation will be at Wallace High School.
* On Tuesday 23 October we will be at Stirling High School.
* On Wednesday 24 October we will be at McLaren High School.
* And, on Thursday 25 October the Big Conversation will be happening at Balfron High School
We would appreciate if you would let us know you are joining in the conversation by registering through Eventbrite:-
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stirling-councils-big-conversation-tickets-50903455606
We are encouraging local people to host their own Big Conversations with family, friends, neighbours, community groups, co-workers. We have prepared Big Conversation “Meeting in a box” materials which you can use for your own conversation.
All we ask is that you record the conversation and send it back to Stirling Council. Meeting in a box at https://www.stirling.gov.uk/__documents/final-meeting-in-a-box.pdf We want to hear from YOU – the people who live and work in our communities. Your views and ideas will help transform Stirling. We would appreciate if you could forward this information round your next works. We look forward to hearing from you.
Community Engagement Team
People, Planning & Performance
Stirling Council
Room 44
Old Viewforth
Pitt Terrace
Stirling
FK8 2ET
Telephone: 01786 233076
More...
Fiona Brown helped Scotland's Women's Football team make history last week when they beat Albania to ensure first-ever participation in next year’s women’s World Cup in France. Fiona now has 31 Scotland Caps but it hasn't been an easy road for the Dunblane lass as you will see from her story below.
As a child, I ran about like a headless chicken, usually after my brother. I tried everything and anything - tennis, golf, squash, athletics and gymnastics. I started to play football aged 6 when Active Stirling started a girls football session at my school (Dunblane Primary). I loved every minute and was desperate to join a team, but there was nothing for girls in the local area. The coach of the active schools sessions (after persistent begging from me) started a girls section at local club- Newburgh. I was aged for under 11’s but played in the u13’s league and completely caught the bug. Being the most competitive kid you will ever meet, being half the size of everyone else just added to the challenge. The club later reformed as Stirling Girls and was run by volunteers, most of whom were parents. Later, naturally with age some of the girls lost interest, numbers became lower and we all transferred to Stenhousemuir F.C Girls section. I played there for two years at U15 level, and it was around this time I realised that this is what I wanted to do. I remember telling my mum aged 13 that I wanted to be a professional footballer, not sure how she managed to keep a straight face!
Aged 14, I was given a ‘Regional Trial’ by the Scottish FA. Still playing at Stenhousemuir, who, at the time were one of the weaker teams, over achieving in a league of top clubs, this was a huge thing for me. After a successful regional trial, I joined the central region and later that year received my first Scotland cap at u15 level against Wales. A dream come true. Afterwards, I was asked to join Celtics youth academy, and being a 14 year old Celtic fan, it was an easy decision. Looking back now, I have my parents and brother to thank for everything. An easy decision for me meant 3 nights training 7-9pm in Glasgows west end as well as a game on a Sunday, which could be just about anywhere in the country. I don’t think I would have been able to achieve anything that I have if my parents hadn’t given it so much of their time or if my brother wasn’t so selfless. This was the age I missed out on a lot of social things with my friends, it was a hard for other people to understand why I was putting in the time and sacrifices for a game, but now I’m so glad I did. I also had a very supportive group of friends throughout my school years.
At U15 level at Celtic, we were hugely successful and had one of the best teams of our age group at the time. We won both cups and the league title that year, going undefeated in the league too. The next year, I was asked to join the first team at Celtic, aged 15 it was probably too soon, but it was a huge learning experience for me. I also moved up to U17 with Scotland reaching the Elite round of the European Championships two years running. In my second season at Celtic first team, unfortunately I suffered an ACL injury, which ultimately ended in surgery and a year on the sidelines. This was hard for me, as everything had gone so well up until that point.
In 2012, I was selected for The SFA National Performance Centre. This was a scholarship programme that allowed me to complete my university degree while having individual training every morning and club training at night. After returning from injury, I found form and was asked to join Glasgow City FC. I also moved up to u19 level at Scotland. During three successful seasons at Glasgow City, winning 2 League Cups, 2 Scottish Cups and 3 League Titles as well as reaching the quarter finals of the Champions League and the finals of the U19 European Championships, I received my first full International Cap, playing in a 3-0 win against Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, in the middle of all of this, another ACL injury kept me sidelined for yet another 9 months.
After playing Eskilstuna DFF, a Swedish team in the Champions League with Glasgow City, I was offered my first full professional contract. Moving out to Eskilstuna in 2017 was a huge step for me. It was in fact the best move of my career. Continuing to play with the Scottish Women’s National Team, we reached and competed at the European Championships in Holland, the first time in history. At the end of my first season in Sweden, I was asked to join F.C Rosengård. One of the best teams in Europe, I couldn’t turn it down.
This year, we have qualified for the World Cup. Probably the pinnacle of my career to this point. I hope to have a gold medal to add to the collection at the end of this domestic season too!
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