Stirling Sruighlea Stirlin | |
---|---|
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Country | Scotland |
Lieutenancy area | Stirling and Falkirk |
Admin HQ | Stirling |
Government | |
• Body | Stirling Council |
• Control | Lab minority (council NOC) |
• MPs | |
• MSPs | |
Area | |
• Total | 844 sq mi (2,186 km2) |
• Rank | Ranked 9th |
Population (2021) | |
• Total | 93,470 |
• Rank | Ranked 25th |
• Density | 110/sq mi (43/km2) |
ONS code | S12000030 |
ISO 3166 code | GB-STG |
Website | www |
The Stirling council area (Scots : Stirlin; Scottish Gaelic : Sruighlea) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about 93,470 (2021 estimate). [1] It was created in 1975 as a lower-tier district within the Central region. The district covered parts of the historic counties of Stirlingshire and Perthshire, which were abolished for local government purposes. In 1996 the Central region was abolished and Stirling Council took over all local government functions within the area.
The administrative centre of the area is the city of Stirling, with the headquarters at Old Viewforth.
The area borders the council areas of Clackmannanshire (to the east), North Lanarkshire (to the south), Falkirk (to the south east), Perth and Kinross (to the north and north east), Argyll and Bute (to the north and north west), and both East and West Dunbartonshire to Stirling's southwest.
The majority of the population of the area is located in its southeast corner, in the city of Stirling and in the surrounding lowland communities: Bridge of Allan and Dunblane to the north, Bannockburn to the immediate south, and the three former coal mining communities of Cowie, Fallin, and Plean, known collectively as the "Eastern Villages".
The rest of the council area's population is sparsely distributed across the rural, mainly highland, expanse in the north and west of the area. The southern half of this rural area comprises the flat western floodplain of the River Forth, bounded on the south by the Touch Hills and the Campsie Fells. North of the glen lie the Trossachs mountains, and the northern half of the council area is generally mountainous in character.
Stirling district was created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which abolished Scotland's counties, burghs and landward districts and replaced them with upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Stirling was one of three districts within the Central region. As created in 1975 the Stirling district covered five districts from Stirlingshire and four districts from Perthshire, which were all abolished at the same time: [2]
From Perthshire:
From Stirlingshire:
The new district and its neighbour Falkirk were together made a new Stirling and Falkirk lieutenancy area. The last Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire became the first Lord Lieutenant of Stirling and Falkirk. [3]
Local government was reformed again in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished the regions and districts which had been created in 1975, replacing them with unitary council areas. Central Region was abolished and each of the area's three districts, including Stirling, became council areas. Stirling District Council was therefore replaced by the current Stirling Council. [4]
Stirling | |
---|---|
Leadership | |
Carol Beattie since 2018 [6] | |
Structure | |
Seats | 23 councillors |
8 / 23 | |
7 / 23 | |
5 / 23 | |
2 / 23 | |
1 / 23 | |
Elections | |
Single transferable vote | |
Last election | 6 May 2022 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
Meeting place | |
Old Viewforth, Pitt Terrace, Stirling, FK8 2ET | |
Website | |
www |
The first election to Stirling District Council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 16 May 1975. A shadow authority was again elected in 1995 ahead of the change to council areas which came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control since 1975 has been as follows: [7]
Stirling District Council
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
No overall control | 1975–1984 | |
Labour | 1984–1988 | |
No overall control | 1988–1996 |
Stirling Council
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Labour | 1996–1999 | |
No overall control | 1999–2003 | |
Labour | 2003–2007 | |
No overall control | 2007–present |
The first leader of the council, Corrie McChord, had been the last leader of the Central Regional Council. [8] The leaders since 1996 have been: [9]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Corrie McChord | Labour | 1 Apr 1996 | 24 May 2007 | |
Corrie McChord | Labour | 31 May 2007 | 12 Mar 2008 | |
Graham Houston | SNP | 12 Mar 2008 | 17 May 2012 | |
Corrie McChord | Labour | 17 May 2012 | 28 Feb 2013 | |
Johanna Boyd | Labour | 28 Feb 2013 | 4 May 2017 | |
Scott Farmer | SNP | 24 May 2017 | 19 May 2022 | |
Chris Kane | Labour | 19 May 2022 |
The council is based at Old Viewforth on Pitt Terrace in Stirling. The oldest part of the building is a converted house called Viewforth, which had been built in 1855. [10] The house was bought by Stirlingshire County Council in 1931 for £5,250 and converted to become its headquarters. [11] A large art deco extension was added to the rear of the house, opening in 1937. [12] A new building called New Viewforth was built alongside the older premises in 1972, shortly before Stirlingshire County Council was abolished. [13]
Between 1975 and 1996 the premises at Viewforth served as the headquarters of Central Regional Council, whilst Stirling District Council was based at the Municipal Buildings at 8–10 Corn Exchange Road in Stirling, which had been completed in 1918 for the old Stirling Town Council. [14] [15] On local government reorganisation in 1996 Stirling Council took over Viewforth. The 1972 building known as New Viewforth was demolished in 2014. [16]
Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Election results since 1995 have been as follows: [7]
Year | Seats | SNP | Conservative | Labour | Green | Liberal Democrats | Independent / Other | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | 22 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
1999 | 22 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New ward boundaries. [17] |
2003 | 22 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
2007 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | New ward boundaries. [18] |
2012 | 22 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
2017 | 23 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | New ward boundaries. [19] |
2022 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Labour minority administration with Conservative support. |
Following one change of allegiance since the 2022 election, the current composition of the council is:
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Conservative | 8 | |
SNP | 7 | |
Labour | 5 | |
Independent | 2 | |
Green | 1 |
The wards are: [19]
Ward Number | Ward Name | Location | Seats |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Trossachs and Teith | 3 | |
2 | Forth and Endrick | 3 | |
3 | Dunblane and Bridge of Allan | 4 | |
4 | Stirling North | 4 | |
5 | Stirling West | 3 | |
6 | Stirling East | 3 | |
7 | Bannockburn | 3 |
The area is divided into 42 community council areas, all of which have community councils as at 2023. [20]
As well as the city of Stirling itself, there are many towns, villages and hamlets spread across the council area, as well as dispersed settlements.
Largest settlements by population:
Settlement | Population (mid-2020 est.) [21] |
---|---|
Stirling | 37,910 |
Dunblane | 9,310 |
Bannockburn | 6,720 |
Bridge of Allan | 5,320 |
Callander | 3,080 |
Fallin | 2,850 |
Cowie | 2,720 |
Doune | 2,200 |
Balfron | 2,140 |
Strathblane | 2,000 |
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south; it borders the counties of Inverness-shire and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus to the east, Fife, Kinross-shire, Clackmannanshire, Stirlingshire and Dunbartonshire to the south and Argyllshire to the west. It was a local government county from 1890 to 1930.
Clackmannanshire, or the County of Clackmannan, is a historic county, council area, registration county and lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth and Kinross. In terms of historic counties it borders Perthshire, Stirlingshire and Fife.
Falkirk is one of 32 unitary authority council areas of Scotland. It was formed on 1 April 1996 by way of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 from the exact boundaries of Falkirk District, one of three parts of the Central region created in 1975, which was abolished at that time. Prior to the 1975 reorganisation, the majority of the council area was part of the historic county of Stirlingshire, and a small part, namely Bo'ness and Blackness, was part of the former county of West Lothian.
Callander is a small town in the council area of Stirling, Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the historic county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands.
Doune is a burgh within Perthshire. The town is administered by Stirling Council. Doune is assigned Falkirk postcodes starting "FK". The village lies within the parish of Kilmadock and mainly within the area surrounded by the River Teith and Ardoch Burn.
Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.
The Trossachs generally refers to an area of wooded glens, braes, and lochs lying to the east of Ben Lomond in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The name is taken from that of a small woodland glen that lies at the centre of the area, but is now generally applied to the wider region.
Stirling is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Kinross and Western Perthshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1983, representing, at any one time, a seat for one Member of Parliament (MP), elected by the first past the post system of election.
Central Scotland Police was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Stirling, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire. The headquarters of the force were at Randolphfield House in Stirling.
Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service was the statutory fire and rescue service for the area of Central Scotland, Scotland between 1975 and 2013. It was amalgamated into the single Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in 2013.
The FK postcode area, also known as the Falkirk postcode area, is a group of 21 postcode districts in central Scotland, within 18 post towns. These cover most of the Falkirk council area, most of the Stirling council area and Clackmannanshire, plus small parts of Fife, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute.
Central region was a local government region from 1975 to 1996, being one of twelve such regions across Scotland. The Regional Council's headquarters were at Viewforth in Stirling, which had been previously the headquarters of Stirlingshire County Council. Since 1996 the area has been divided into the council areas of Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Stirling, which had previously been districts within Central region.
Balfron High School is a secondary school situated in the village of Balfron, approximately 18 miles (29 km) west of Stirling and 16 miles (26 km) north of Glasgow. The catchment area extends over most of West Stirlingshire including the villages of Arnprior, Balfron, Balmaha, Blanefield, Buchlyvie, Croftamie, Drymen, Fintry, Killearn, Kippen, Milton of Buchanan and Strathblane, along with the hamlets of Balfron Station, Boquhan, Buchanan Smithy, Dumgoyne, Gartness and Mugdock. The school also has pupils attending from other nearby areas of Dunbartonshire and Stirlingshire.
Glen Finglas is a glen in the Trossachs, in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It is an area of forest in Highlands of the former county of Perthshire, north of Brig o' Turk, close to Callander in Menteith. To the west is Loch Katrine.
Old Viewforth is a municipal facility on Pitt Terrace in Stirling, Scotland. The facility, which is the headquarters of Stirling Council, is a Category B listed building.