The list of candidates standing for election for the Stirling Constituency for the Scottish Parliamentary Election on Thursday 7 May
2026 has been published in the Notice of Poll.

They are:     
    * Stephen Kerr - Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
    * Kainde Manji - Scottish Labour Party
    * Jill Reilly - Scottish Liberal Democrats
    * Alyn Edward Smith - Scottish National Party (SNP)
    * Rachael Wright - Reform UK.

More details can be found here:
www.stirling.gov.uk/council-and-committees/elections-and-voting/scottish-parliamentary-election-thursday-7-may-2026/

If you are not registered to vote, you must do this by midnight Monday 20 April to vote in the Scottish Parliament Election.Registering to vote only takes a few minutes and you can do it online:
https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

Some other key dates to be aware of:- If you want to vote by post, you need to apply by 5pm on Tuesday 21 April 2026. Apply now to ensure your application is processed early and
your postal vote can be sent to you more quickly. To apply for a postal vote, download the appropriate application form via this link:
www.saa.gov.uk/central/electoral-registration-downloadable-forms/ 

If you want to appoint someone to vote on your behalf, you need to
apply for a proxy vote by 5pm on Tuesday 28 April 2026.For more information, visit:
www.stirling.gov.uk/council-and-committees/elections-and-voting/how-to-vote/

Giving to the local community and beyond!

You could be part of this!

• Volunteer with us
• Bring your preloved items and give twice!
• Firstly, to the person who buys a quality and affordable item.
• Secondly, the profit goes back into your local community and beyond!

Since The Giving Tree opened in November 2023, thanks to the generosity of our donors and the dedication of our staff and volunteers, the shop has donated:

£2,500 to Mary’s Meals

£88,910 to Dunblane Development Trust Large and Small Community Grants

Small grants have helped fund:

• New tents for Boys’ Brigade
• Goal posts for Newton Primary
• Vegetable planters for Dunblane Primary
• Seed funding for a family drop-in centre
• Plants for Weigh Ahead Community Garden
• Craft Central outreach project
• Equipment for Dunblane in Bloom
• Environmental clubs in local schools through the Rotary.
• Seeds and plants for the DDT Environment Group
• Musicians for the Three Rivers Classical Music Festival
• Christmas lights and work shed repairs for the DDT DIY group.
• Training and equipment for St Mary’s Repair Café
• Dunblane Community Speed watch equipment.

£15,106 to the Duncan Hospital Charitable Trust

The Duncan Hospital is located in Bihar, India — one of the poorest regions in the world.

Through our support:

• Two nurses were trained last year, strengthening local healthcare.
• This year, funding will help provide food and education for 50 street children in the communities around the hospital.

Residents are being urged to have their say on proposals to help address Stirling Council’s estimated £12.25 million budget shortfall next year (2026-27).

A new survey has been launched that sets out potential ways for the council to raise more income, make savings and deliver services differently.The consultation continues the council’s Big Conversation with its communities about how it negotiates the ongoing and unprecedented financial challenge impacting local government in Scotland.The main reason for this is that the council’s funding and income is not meeting the rising costs needed to deliver its vital every-day services, from educating children and young people, to maintaining a vast road network, or collecting and recycling household waste.

Despite bridging a similar shortfall last year through an 8.8% increase in council tax and a range of savings totalling £7.7 million (mainly  fficiencies), the council and other local authorities across Scotland must make further difficult decisions this year to balance their budgets.Residents can help inform this process by taking part in the survey on the Engage Stirling website [1], with paper copies available in libraries shortly.

The closing date is Sunday 1 February.

To see the full list of the proposed savings and take part in the online survey, visit:https://engage.stirling.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/big-conversation-26-27 

For more information, please visit www.stirling.gov.uk/bigconversation

The Gwen Mayor Trust, a charity established in memory of Dunblane Primary School teacher Gwen Mayor, has announced the nursery and primary school arts, sports, culture and community projects it is providing funding support for this year.

The charity was established by, and is administered by, the EIS and has supported hundreds of nursery and primary school projects benefitting thousands of children since it first awarded grants in 1998.

The aim of the Gwen Mayor Trust is to provide financial support for the type of projects which were important to Gwen Mayor and her pupils at Dunblane Primary School.

Since its inception, supported by the Mayor family and made possible by generous donations from individuals and organisations across the country, the Gwen Mayor Trust has supported a diverse range of arts, cultural, community and sports based projects in nursery and primary schools across Scotland.

Commenting on the work of the Trust, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, “Gwen Mayor was a passionate and dedicated educator, who was truly committed to providing the very best for the pupils with whom she worked.

"It was this spirit which led to the establishment of a charitable trust in honour of the memory of Gwen Mayor and her pupils at Dunblane Primary School.”

Ms Bradley added, “Today, the positive work of the Gwen Mayor Trust continues. All nursery and primary schools across Scotland are eligible to apply for funding from the Trust, and hundreds of projects and thousands of young people have benefitted from the support of the Trust over the past three decades.

"The Trustees recently authorised the funding of eighteen projects in schools across Scotland, and everyone associated with the Gwen Mayor Trust looks forward to hearing and seeing more about the progress of these very worthy projects in the months ahead.”

Read more here

Households and businesses across the Stirling area will have temporary adjustments to their waste and recycling collection schedules over the festive period.

Residents are also being encouraged to recycle and re-use at a time of the year when there is typically increased waste and recycling produced at home.

There will be no waste and recycling collections on:
Thursday 25 December - Christmas Day
Friday 26 December - Boxing Day
Thursday 1 January - New Year's Day
Friday 2 January - Bank Holiday

From week commencing  22 December - week commencing 13 January some collections may be different to accommodate these bank holidays.All residents whose bin collection falls on one of those days can check
their online postcode finder for any temporary collection dates.To accommodate the adjustments, there will be no brown bin collections between:Monday 22 December - Sunday 28 December and Monday 29 December - 4 January. Brown bin collections will resume from the week commencing Monday 6 January.

Residents are also encouraged to use their new glass recycling bins, which will provide additional capacity over the Christmas and New Year period.

The Household Waste Recycling Centres will be open and operating as normal, under winter hours, but will be closed on the following dates:
Thursday 25 December - Christmas Day
Friday 26 December - Boxing Day
Thursday 1 January - New Year's Day
Friday 2 January - Bank Holiday

All HWRC sites will be open as normal Saturday 27 December and Saturday 3 January. Lower Polmaise will be the only site open Sunday 28 December and Sunday 4 January as Balfron and Callander are closed on Sundays.To access our Household Waste Recycling Centres it's necessary to make a booking and residents can also check out opening times to arrange their visit when it best suits.The festive period is a time when households might have more waste than usual and Zero Waste Scotland provide helpful information on ways to have a less wasteful Christmas.

Below is some advice on the best way to dispose of common waste and recycling items you may have at this time of year:
Wrapping paper and gift cards
Standard paper, wrapping paper and gift cards should be placed in your green recycling bin.
Wrapping paper or gift cards containing foil, glitter, ribbons or felt coatings are not recyclable and should be placed in your grey bin.
Cardboard collection
If you have excess paper or cardboard during the festive period, you can take it to any of our Household Waste Recycling Centres at Lower Polmaise, Balfron and Callander.Christmas treesYou can recycle real Christmas trees within the garden waste skips at any of our Household Waste Recycling Centres, or you can chop them up and place in your brown bin, if you have a valid garden waste permit.Convener of the Environment, Transport and Net Zero committee, Cllr Alasdair Tollemache, said: "Christmas is a time of joy and generosity, but it can also be one of the most wasteful periods of the year. By
making a few simple choices, each of us can help promote a sustainable Christmas by protecting the environment we all share, from recycling wrapping paper to making sure bottles, cans and food packaging go in the
right bins."Once again, our Household Waste Recycling Centres will remain open throughout most of the festive period if people have excess paper or cardboard or other bulky items that don't fit in their bins."We would like to thank businesses and residents for their understanding around these temporary changes over the festive period.
On behalf of
Stirling Council's Waste Services team, we would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."For details on festive bin collections, as well as the opening times of our Lower Polmaise, Callander and Balfron HWRC sites, please visit:www.stirling.gov.uk/festivebincollections

Dunblane's Local Place Plan was submitted to Stirling Council's planning service on 31 October 2025.

READ THE LPP HERE

The Chair of the Community Council, Anna Jarchow-MacDonald, received this email from the Council's planners

Dear Anna

I am pleased to confirm receipt of Dunblane's LPP - thank you.

Congratulations on completing it - that's a fantastic achievement!

We'll undertake the validation process within the next week and will update you once it's complete.

If any issues arise, you'll have the opportunity to address them.

Many thanks

Mark Laird, Development Planning Team Leader

Local woman, Rosie Fraser, has been elected the new Lord Mayor of Stirling.

Rosie raised her family in Dunblane and is know to many as the person who set up Weigh Ahead in Dunblane's High Street.

She sits as a Councillor for the Forth & Endrick Ward in the rural west of the Stirling Council area

Our congratualtions to Rosie. We can be assured that she will represent the whole Stirling community with dignity.