Dunblane High School reveals Purple Plaque to celebrate Jane Stewart, a Women in Innovation Award Winner

Dunblane High School has announced that it has hosted an event to celebrate former pupil and Head Girl, Jane Stewart, by unveiling a purple plaque in her honour on the school site. 

Jane won the prestigious Women in Innovation Award from Innovate UK, the UK’s national innovation agency, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).  Purple plaques are being displayed at schools across the UK to recognise the achievements of the winners of the prestigious national Women in Innovation Award.

Jane Stewart is part of a growing network of over 150 Women in Innovation Award winners involved in inspiring solutions to pressing societal, environmental, and economic challenges; from multi-grip bionic arms for amputees, an AI that curbs your unhealthy cravings, satellite data to detect long-lost archaeological sites and data solutions to bring visibility and value to waste resources.  She was the sole Scottish winner of the 2021/22 awards.

Jane has been at the forefront of transformative change in recycling and resource management for over 20 years and understands first-hand the opportunity for innovative technology and data solutions to unlock environmental and social challenges.  Through these awards, she has been recognised for her efforts in the sector, pioneering technology and data solutions to change the fate of waste.  Jane holds several positions as Non-Executive Director/Chair across a portfolio of companies including Topolytics, a data analytics company making the world’s waste more visible, verifiable, and valuable.

Mr Stuart MacKay, Headteacher at Dunblane High School said: ‘We are delighted that Jane has received this award and we are very proud to display the Purple Plaque in Dunblane High School reception. Jane is an inspiration and role model to all our young people and we are honoured to have such a fantastic ambassador for our school.”

Jane Stewart said: “I am humbled and honoured to receive this plaque in the company of such an amazing group of young people.  Huge thanks to Mr MacKay, the school and parent council for their warm welcome and support. I’m proud to be an alumni of Dunblane High, an incredible school which played such an important part in shaping the person I am today – as much for the values it instilled and the lifelong friendships as the academic learning. 

Innovate UK’s support has played a vital role in enabling Topolytics to solve technical and data challenges as it developed WasteMap®, a data analytics platform for waste producers. I’m passionate about changing the lens on waste as a resource and the impact of technology and data to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.  We need a far greater pace of innovation and investment to develop new business models, processes, skills and infrastructure as we move towards Net Zero and beyond waste. Ultimately enabling the materials revolution where resource efficiency is maximised and negative impacts of waste on our environment and communities are eliminated.  Diversity of thought is needed – if we think and act the same we’ll not get there fast enough.  

The purple plaque initiative helps to provides visibility for women actively trying to be the change they want to see and hopefully inspires and encourages the next generation to play a vital part in such evolution, to make their own positive impact on society.

Historic Environment Scotland has awarded £188,000 to help secure future of Dunblane's Leighton Library

Scotland's oldest purpose-built library is set to benefit from funding from Historic Environment Scotland (HES).

The category A-listed building, near Dunblane Cathedral, dates from the 17th century, and was commissioned through the will of Robert Leighton, a former Principal of Edinburgh University, Bishop of Dunblane, and Archbishop of Glasgow, who died in 1684.

In bequeathing a sum for a building to house his books, Robert Leighton gave his collection to the clergy of the Cathedral of Dunblane. The oldest book dates from 1504. Beyond the Bishop's personal collection, the Trustees added to the collection from 1701 with many important books from the Age of Enlightenment.

The building and collection has remained in use as a library and, unusually, the books and many of the original library fixtures survive intact, including six Jacobean chairs and the original book presses that line one wall.

The HES funding will go towards a programme of restoration that includes repairs to the walls, stonework, chimneys, and roof to ensure the collection of rare and antique books can remain housed in their original building.

Central to the project is work to remove modern cement-based harling and replace it with a lime-based material, closer to that used on the original 17th-century exterior. The project will also restore the marble cartouche ordered by the Bishop's executors, his sister and her son, a wealthy City of London brewer.

The restoration project, started earlier this year, has already unearthed some unexpected finds. A fireplace and press, still with its original lime plaster, were discovered after the removal of harling applied around 1990. One notable find was a finely carved stone with the initials 'MGK' which had been reused to bolster a chimney, identified as those of a Dean of Dunblane in the 1680s. One replaced crow-step stone was found to have carving beneath it suggesting it was reused from another building nearby, possibly the (then) ruined Cathedral or Bishop's Palace.

Dr Susan O'Connor, Head of Grants at Historic Environment Scotland, said, "We're thrilled to award funding to this project and to play a part in the incredible history of the Leighton Library and, by extension, Scotland's world-renowned history of libraries and learning.

"Not only does this project conserve a historic building, but, through the care and patience of those involved in the work, we now know more about the library's history and have a further insight into the centuries of change witnessed by this building."

Alastair MacDonald, Restoration Lead from the Leighton Library Trust said, "We are very grateful for the significant support HES has given to our wonderful library. The restoration work has revealed that the repairs we have now been able to undertake are in the nick of time, as the fabric had deteriorated badly over the years. This grant, and other generous donations, have made a significant difference to the project. There's still a long way to go to ensure the collection and its unique building are saved for future generations."

The Leighton Library Trust hopes that, following repair works, the library will offer increased opportunities for tourists and locals alike to visit and experience the remarkable building and collection for themselves.

Stirling Council, like all local authorities, is required to undertake a statutory review of arrangements for polling districts and polling places every five years to ensure that suitable and accessible voting facilities are available to everyone.

We have been running a quick online survey as part of this review process over recent months, which we have been promoting on our social media channels. There are just over two weeks left to complete the survey with a closing date of 30 November.

We would appreciate you helping us promote this survey so we can gather views on current arrangements from residents and as well as any suggestions for improvement.

For more information and to take part, please visit our Engage Stirling website: https://engage.stirling.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/polling-districts-and-places-review"

The Giving Tree has opened its doors

We are pleased to announce that The Giving Tree opened its doors for the first time on Friday 17 November.

Thank you to all who have supported us through the last few months. We are really looking forward to welcoming customers old and new.

The Giving Tree will be an ethical and sustainable place to shop and will stock good quality preloved items including ladies’, gent’s and kid’s clothes, shoes, handbags, toys, household items and books all at bargain prices!

We will also be delighted to accept donations at the shop from Friday 17 November.

The profits from the Giving Tree will be supporting both local and international charities. In recognition of the history of the shop, the international charity we will be supporting for the rest of the financial year is Mary’s Meals.

A spokesperson for 3 made the following statement :

Having reviewed the site, we have decided not to proceed with the build.

A number of Stirling Councillors and Scottish Ministers had previously appealed to 3 to consider alternative locations following requests by Dunblane Community Council.

The mast had been allowed to proceed going forward following an admin error at Stirling Council.

By Alastair McNeill 24Oct23 at the Stirling Observer

An ‘eleventh-hour’ appeal to a mobile phone giant was made this week to stop building a controversial 50ft mast in a residential area of Dunblane.

Clackmannanshire and Dunblane MSP Keith Brown and three Dunblane councillors – Alasdair Tollemache, Robin Kleinman and Douglas Dodds – are urging Three not to proceed with the project.

It emerged last month that the 5G mast – turned down by Stirling Council – was to go ahead due to an administrative blunder.

Yesterday (Tuesday) Three said it is currently “evaluating” the site near Dunblane Primary School, opposite Murdoch Terrace, and that no final decision on whether to build or not had been made.

Following the error, Stirling Council pointed out they had made “sustained” appeals to the applicant to discuss an alternative, but had not had any success. The applicant had previously said the installation would be safe and improve network coverage, but objectors had cited concerns over its appearance and alleged potential health risks.

Dunblane Primary School is around 500ft from the mast

In recent days, workers have been spotted at the site opposite Murdoch Terrace near the town’s primary school.

This week three Dunblane councillors – Alasdair Tollemache, Robin Kleinman and Douglas Dodds – issued a last minute appeal to Three. Two MSPs had objected to the proposal along with 12 residents from Dunblane.

The blunder came about after a crucial deadline was missed, allowing the mast to go ahead by default. MSP Alexander Stewart had described the error as “utterly inexcusable.” Under planning rules, applicants who seek to put up a telecoms structure can proceed if they have not had a response from the council within a 56-day period.

The notification application – submitted by CK Hutchison Networks (Three) – had been received and validated on November 16 last year and then formally refused for siting and design reasons on January 16 this year - six days after the January 10 deadline

The local authority blamed a system error for which they are said to be “extremely sorry”.

Dunblane Community Council had expressed “shock” at Stirling Council’s “incompetence” adding that it was “inexcusable especially given the local opposition” to the scheme.

Upset residents had contacted Dunblane and Bridge of Allan councillors last month to express their anger over the matter.

Three, however, had said that 5G rollout was “vital” for residents and businesses of Dunblane.

The councillors said in their statement urging Three not to go ahead: “We call upon CK Hutchison Networks (Three) even at the eleventh hour to abandon the erection of the mast and respect the decision of the council to reject this.

“We intend to write to CK Hutchison Networks (Three) and request that they now give due regard to the council’s decision and to the community’s strongly held view that the mast should not be erected on this site.”

Mr Brown said: “Planning applications exist for a reason, and it is important that the will of local residents, as represented by local authorities, is abided by.

“This has clearly been an error on Stirling Council’s part, so I have written to them regarding this case asking them to keep my office in the loop.

“I have also written to the Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance, Tom Arthur, asking him to investigate and advise if there are any alternative actions that could be taken to enforce the democratic process which has decided against building the mast.

“While I understand that an administrative error has meant that the network provider is within their rights to proceed with the building of the tower, I’d urge CK Hutchison Networks (Three) to listen to the concerns of residents and the local a authority, and to move the building of this mast to another location.”

A Three spokesperson said this week: “A new mast in Dunblane is vital to supply residents and businesses with the 4G and 5G coverage and performance the town needs.

“While we try to keep mast sites as unobtrusive as possible, they do need to be situated near to where people will be using the service and, in many cases, in precise locations to ensure the widest breadth of coverage.

“We are currently evaluating a site in Murdoch Terrace and no final decision on whether to build or not has been taken.”

Further to my attendance at the recent Community Council meeting – I can confirm that the request for links to information in relation to internet safety and scams was shared by PC Gilliland in the Community council report as follows

https://www.scotland.police.uk/advice-and-information/

Internet safety - Police Scotland

Scams and frauds - Police Scotland

There is also a further helpful site I have found with lots of information in relation to recently reported scams and online safety for students from trading standards which can be found on the following link

Trading Standards Scotland Bulletin 10 August (mailchi.mp)

It also has links to numerous other agencies and supports. 

If there is a way you can think of sharing this with our communities please let us know – we have a number of leaflets at the station which we would also be happy to share I hope you find these helpful and I will arrange for a few posters to be made up for distributing within the community.

PS Sarah Stephenson (C0508)

Stirling Rural Community Policing Team
Dunblane Police Station

Forth Valley Division

Police Scotland