News
A devastating fire at a derelict property in Dunblane is being treated as deliberate after firefighters tackled the large blaze through the night on Wednesday. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) sent four fire engines and specialist resources to the property, previously owned by the Cypriot hotel magnate Sir Reo Stakis in the grounds of the Hydro hotel. They battled through the night to finally extinguish the fire in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Anyone with information about how the fire started is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting the incident number 2562 of April 24.
Tenor Matthew McKinney has won the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Award 2024 at the Wigmore Hall on Friday 26th April. He was a pupil of DPS and DHS and popular star of many their musicals. Over several years he was a loyal treble in Dunblane Cathedral Choir, continuing in the adult choir too. Matthew went on to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and as a student gave wonderful recitals for Dunblane Cathedral Arts Guild, including performing as soloist in the moving Armistice Day Centenary Concert in 2018. Since leaving the Conservatoire, Matthew has been leading a busy musical life in London, much involved in opera. For singers, the Kathleen Ferrier Award is a top achievement. Congratulations Matthew!
The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships brought around £4.5 million of economic benefits to the Stirling area, as well as sporting, social and cultural gains.
Data from event organisers found the economic benefits were more than 10 times the budget of £350,000 committed by Stirling Council to the event, the Finance, Economy and Corporate Support Committee was told on Thursday, 11 April 2024.
Event organisers initially advised Stirling Council to expect an additional 20,000-25,000 visitors to the city for the Individual Time Trials over three days from 9-11 August 2023.
However, three times as many visitors – 74,935 people – were recorded in Stirling than the week before (192,000 against 117,000), with the city welcoming almost 80,000 people on the final day, Friday 11 August, alone.
The latest figures come after a report from Ernst and Young found the overall event, which saw 13 world championships contested across seven events, realised a total spend across Scotland of £220 million.
It was hailed as the biggest cycling event ever and data for Stirling also found:
- The UCI athlete family stayed for more than 1,000 bed nights in Stirling at an average cost of £106 per night, with a daily spend on non-accommodation recorded at £52.60 each day
- More than 2,000 hours of action from the Individual Time Trials was broadcast worldwide, showcasing Stirling to a global audience of almost 50 million
- Including the road races – three of which passed through the local area – Stirling featured in almost 5,000 hours of broadcast and a cumulative television audience of almost 140 million
- Stirling-focused content on the Cycling World Championships’ social media channels had a global reach of 70.9 million
As part of a legacy building project, there were a range of community programmes launched before, during and after the UCI Cycling World Championships involving communities in areas such as Killin, the Trossachs, Raploch, Bannockburn, Cowie, Fallin and Throsk.
Councillors also heard a summer cycling and outdoor adventure campaign will be launched by the Council this summer to take advantage of the feelgood factor from the event and promote cycling tourism, worth £300 million to the Scottish economy, in the Stirling area.
PC Paul Gilliland has announced his retirement as community police officer for Dunblane
and Bridge of Allan on 18 April 2024. Dunblane Community Council wishes to thank Paul for
the huge contribution he has made to community policing in the Dunblane area and we wish
him the best in his well-deserved retirement.
We wish to thank the primary 5 pupils at Dunblane Primary School for the letters that
appeared on “X” addressed to Dunblane Community Council. We are extremely impressed
with your citizenship activities.
The community councillors are particularly interested to read about your project “Fish in the
Classroom” where you looked after young trout for 7 weeks before releasing them into the
Allan Water. Your actions will improve the biodiversity of our beautiful river. We suspect that
the fish will also be pleased now that they are in their natural habitat.
The councillors also note with gratitude that you have carried out a litter pick in Dunblane.
Your contribution to keeping Dunblane clean and beautiful is very much appreciated.
Well done to you all!
Dunblane Community Council
Stirling Council has decided to reduce the speed limit on the B8033 between Dunblane and Kinbuck
from 60mph to 40mph. This follows an earlier decision by them to clear the vegetation from and
resurface the narrow footpath.
Ailsa Gray, the chair of Dunblane Community Council, said, “we raised this matter with Stirling
Council after being approached by residents concerned about road safety. I am grateful that Stirling
Council agrees with the local community that the high number of vulnerable road users warrants a
reduced speed limit.”
Local Councillor, Alasdair Tollemache said, “This is very good news for residents. This road is the
only route connecting the rural communities between Kinbuck and Dunblane and is extremely
popular with those who use the road to walk alongside, cycle and ride horses. It has also been
made more popular with runners following the introduction of the 12km Dunblane Road Race.”
There are plans for this year’s Dunblane Road Race to be held on Sunday 26 May at 1pm. The route
is north along the B8033 through the village of Kinbuck, crossing the Allan Water at Cromlix before
turning left and following the Auchinlay Road back to Dunblane High Street, before finishing at Andy
Murray’s Gold Post Box.
The latest DCC news is now updated on https://dunblane.info/dcc. Our next meeting is 10th April 7pm in the library.
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No matter who you pay your bills to, the people who actually deliver the power and keep the lights on in Dunblane are SSEN. Here's a recent update from them about priority service for certain groups.
Disruption to essential services like electricity can sometimes happen and it affects our everyday lives. For some, a power cut can be worrying or difficult. Acknowledging the pivotal role that Community and Parish Councils play in achieving better outcomes for communities and widening the safety net of care around them, we are asking for your help in reaching people who may need extra support during power cuts.
We are Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), we operate the electricity network in your area. We keep the lights on, TVs running, and homes and businesses heated for 3.9 million customers, with 99% reliability throughout the year. Your residents may not be aware that extra advice and support is available for when there is an interruption to the power supply. By informing your residents of the Priority Services Register this will enable them free access to:
- Our dedicated Priority Services line is available 24 hours a day. We’ll contact you, or your nominated contact if we need to switch off your power to carry out essential maintenance.
- We offer a password service where you can agree a password to use when dealing with SSEN staff. That way we can look after your personal safety and home security.
- When we are aware of an unplanned power cut affecting your home, you will receive proactive updates 24 hours a day.
- We will contact you regularly to confirm the details we hold for you are correct and if we do not hear back from you on these occasions, we will only keep your data for 5 years.
What is the PSR and who is eligible?
The Priority Services Register is a free UK-wide service which provides extra advice and support, including when there’s an interruption to your electricity, gas or water supply. You are eligible for free PSR services if you:
- Use medical equipment reliant on electricity or water.
- Are blind or partially sighted.
- Are deaf or hard of hearing.
- Are of pensionable age.
- Have a disability.
- Live with children under five.
- Have a chronic illness.
- Have anxiety, depression or any mental health condition.
- Loss or impairment of smell.
- Need documents translated into another format or language.
- Temporarily need extra support.
- Everyone has different needs. Contact your distributor to discuss your requirements.
What resources are available to promote the PSR?
By promoting the Priority Services Register with your residents you will be helping our welfare teams provide extra support to where it is needed most during a power cut. The toolkit has been designed to help you have conversations about what the PSR offers, how it can make a difference to your residents and provide peace of mind during power cuts. You will find the following resources within the toolkit:
- Information you can copy and paste into your newsletters, emails, information sections on your websites and discussion points for team meetings or coffee mornings.
- Posters
- Social media assets
- Links to helpful advice
We appreciate some of your residents may not be in our license area, however by signposting them to our registration pages (for Scotland and England) customers can enter their postcode which will direct them to the right utility to register.
If you have any queries regarding the PSR, please contact us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Whether through email, newsletter, coffee morning or via social media channels, we hope that this pack supports you to have conversations about the benefits of the Priority Services Register. Thank you for helping us to provide extra support to the communities you serve.
Please find our April news update on https://dunblane.info/dcc
The Community Council meeting due to take place on 3 April has been rescheduled to 10 April.
See the listing in What's On?
We are seeking your views on the following draft planning guidance documents:
· Sustainable Transport and Access for New Development, February 2024.
· Householder Alterations and Extensions, February 2024.
· Energy Efficiency and Micro-Renewables in the Historic Environment, February 2024.
We have reviewed the three existing planning guidance documents, which can be found here, and welcome comments on the proposed changes.
There are three surveys on the Engage Stirling website, available through the following link:
https://engage.stirling.gov.uk/en-GB/folders/review-of-planning-guidance
The surveys will close on 21 May 2024.