Saturday (15 November) featured a day of Christmas themed family fun
topped with an appearance from Santa and Mrs Claus who joined new Lord
Provost Rosemary Fraser as they switched on the lights from the roundel
at King Street.

This came after a parade led by the City of Stirling Pipe Band, the
Stirling and District Schools Pipe Band and the 1st Raploch Scouts and
Beavers.Earlier in the day, revellers in Stirling City Centre were able to enjoy
meeting a cast of familiar Christmas characters and street performers
and peruse the Stirling Christmas Farmers Market, taking place on the
same day as the switch-on event for the first time.The Strathcarron Singers Choir and The Tolbooth Voices Choir also helped
bring Christmas cheer as they led the crowds in a carol singalong.Stirling Council Leader, Cllr Susan McGill said: "Our Christmas Lights
Switch On event continues to attract big numbers to Stirling city
centre, bringing communities together to find some festive joy."The nights may be getting darker but thanks to Santa and his helpers,
Stirling will be shining brightly throughout this Christmas period."Local businesses and traders will have benefitted from the increased
footfall to the city centre ahead of this busy season. We're looking
forward to welcoming residents and visitors alike in the coming weeks as
minds begin to focus on getting Christmas shopping done and to also
enjoy the many festive events taking place throughout the Council area.

Judy Murray expressed sadness about Dunblane's failure to get behind her £20m world class tennis centre in an article in the Sun.  

Details from the company are below :

https://www.ember.to/news/#new-glasgow-to-inverness-service-7-Oct-2025

https://search.savills.com/property-detail/gbedrseds250104

According to the spec, this offers :

• Exciting prospect of building on the site of a demolished country house.

"This is the Proposed Local Place Plan for Dunblane. The end of the
Information Notice period is 24th October 2025."

Dunblane Community Council secures new play equipment

Children in Dunblane are enjoying the benefits of new play equipment thanks to a
campaign led by the community council.

A new trim trail has been installed at Braemar Park following extensive discussions
with Stirling Council.
Some of the play equipment at the park was more than a quarter of a century old
and had become run down. 
Dunblane Community Council lobbied the local authority for new play equipment,
directly and through the local councillors. 
A meeting was set up last year with staff from the Environment and Place service at
Stirling Council and a commitment was made to replace some equipment.
The council officers also agreed to repair dangerous and dilapidated fencing and
benches, repair a broken seesaw, and provide new mulch to make the park safe. 
In the longer term, the council aims to remove a cattle grid at the entrance and
replace it with a gate, to bring it in line with many other parks in Stirlingshire.
Chair of Dunblane Community Council, Anna Jarchow-MacDonald, said: "We are
delighted to see new play equipment installed at Braemar Park following a campaign
by Dunblane Community Council for improvements, with the support of our local
councillors.
We first raised the issue of dilapidated play equipment with Stirling Council last year
and six months ago the local authority committed funds to upgrade the equipment
and improve the fencing and mulch, as well as repair broken and unsafe seating and
fencing and install a gate.
We carried out a consultation with parents through the local schools and following a
democratic vote it was decided that a new trim trail would be installed.
"We are pleased that this work has now been carried out by the council, and we look
forward to the installation of the gate and further improvements in due course."This is a fantastic result for local children and their parents, and we at Dunblane
Community Council are proud to have played a part.

Photo by  Jim Payne
Photos.
Contact
Chair of Dunblane Community Council, Anna Jarchow-MacDonald, by emailing
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

There was a meeting in the library on 9th Sept to review the local place plan produced following community workshops.  Key ideas are as follows :

The full plan is attached below.

Stirling Council is to introduce purple wheelie bins for glass and bottles.  This is due to the number of refuse workers suffering sore backs due to the weight of glass boxes

Full details are below :

A review of glass recycling will lead to improvements in the collection service for residents and result in annual savings of around £300,000.

At a meeting of the Environment, Transport and Net Zero Committee today (Thursday, 28 August 2025), the changes were approved for implementation in December.

Currently, residents are asked to present their 55-litre blue boxes for glass recycling collection every four weeks.

Under the new system, 140-litre wheeled bins will be introduced to most households, with a collection frequency of every eight weeks. This will provide residents with 17% additional annual capacity for glass recycling.

Communal bins will also be provided at flatted developments, with the waste services team responsible for removing and returning the bins from their storage areas on collection days.

The cost of the new wheeled bins, approximately £845,000, will be met by the UK Government’s Extended Producer Responsibility funding scheme. The new bins will have a purple colour lid and will be delivered to households as part of the roll out of the collection changes. The current glass boxes will be uplifted and recycled.

The annual cost of the existing waste collection service is £5.1 million a year, but this will be reduced under the eight-weekly wheeled bin system to £4.8 million.

Cllr Jen Preston, convener of the Environment, Transport and Net Zero committee, said: “The new service will be more efficient and easier for residents to use. The new wheeled bins are smaller than the standard bins and take up the same footprint as the existing boxes. The 140-litre volume of the bin provides additional capacity for residents to recycle their glass, compared to the current box system.

“The bins will make it easier for the public to present their glass for recycling, removing the need for boxes to be lifted and carried to the kerbside. This will also benefit our waste services team through reduced manual handling and by avoiding tipping boxes into the vehicles, which can be a risk to health and safety.

“The cost of introducing the new system will be met by funding from the UK Government and the changes will save £300k per year in operating costs, which is a key consideration at a time when Council budgets are under great pressure.

“Residents will also continue to benefit from the availability of our 26 glass recycling sites across the Stirling area. From October, we will begin to communicate further details on the new system to residents, ahead of its introduction in December.”

The decision to review glass recycling collection was taken following a benchmarking exercise against other Scottish local authorities and a consideration of the various options available for glass recycling. It also supports the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024, which encourages sustainability, re-use and recycling and fosters the promotion a circular economy.

The Environment, Transport and Net Zero committee meeting also heard the introduction of the new booking system at the Household Waste Recycling Centres at Lower Polmaise, Balfron and Callander has delivered significant benefits.

An evaluation of the booking system from May 2024, when it was first introduced, to April 2025, shows a reduction of 1,356 tonnes year-on-year – 23 per cent – of waste being sent to landfill, saving the Council approximately £177,000.

Closer monitoring of commercial customer waste shows an increase of 374 tonnes year-on-year  – 16 per cent – providing £32,000 in additional income.

A survey also shows Stirling residents have reported the booking system is simple and that site visits are quicker and more organised – with more than 80 per cent fairly satisfied (8.5 per cent) or very satisfied (76.3 per cent) with the new set-up.

In addition, there has been no impact on fly-tipping cases when comparing data from previous years.

Cllr Preston added: “We’re pleased the booking system has been well received by residents and is already delivering results that contribute towards our net zero ambitions. The system gives greater control of the HWRC locations and allows for more proactive staffing, monitoring and engagement.”