Welcome to the August issue Stirling Council News Bulletin CDNews Bulletin.
This issue includes: Cyber and Fraud Support, Food Conversations, Powering Communities to Net Zero; SURF Awards; CAB Energy Support, Consultations; Funding, and more .
Category: Stirling Council Page 1 of 3
Stirling Council has launched a new survey on a range of proposed budget savings.
No decisions have been taken on any of the savings proposals and the survey aims to find out from residents affected by savings what the impact would be on them and on the community.
Please help us to inform the budget process by completing the survey.
The full list of savings is on the survey itself, but they include:
- Close or reduce council-managed community centres.
- Stop the annual mowing of rural road verges, reduce grass cutting or increase space for pollinator spaces.
- Closure of some libraries.
- Reduction in budget for events and festivals.
- Removal of the ‘road-end’ waste collection policy.
- Stop the greenspace ranger service.
- Reduce spending on maintenance at buildings and facilities.
- Removal of the community grant scheme.
- Reduce free, confidential and impartial accredited money, debt and benefit advice to residents.
- Change the operating models (opening times and capacity) at some nurseries.
- Increase non statutory childcare fees.
- Reduce or stop the play, creche, play and out of school care service.
- Reduce teachers in the additional support needs outreach team.
- Removal of the P5 swimming programme.
- Reduce the primary school week for pupils.
- Close some or all public toilets.
For more information on the councils budget position, please visit stirling.gov.uk/bigconversation
Please see below the links to two surveys which you may wish to complete or pass on to others who may be interested.
Mobile Library Survey
Stirling Council is currently surveying mobile library readers about changes to proposed mobile timetables. The survey will be live until 30th October.
Anyone can access the survey online directly by following this link: https://bit.ly/MobileLibrarySurvey2023.
Or you can download and print the mobile library survey and proposed new route here. You can hand completed paper surveys in to the mobile van.
The survey offers a chance to comment on what other services people might like to see eg access to Health/Housing/Benefits advice. The plan is to offer digital support and other kinds of help eg to rural areas.
Public Library survey
This is a national survey and runs from Monday 2nd to Saturday 21st October.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/PublicLibrarySurvey23
The survey is for anyone aged 16 and over. No demographic or identifiable information is collected and the survey should take only 2 minutes to complete. Once analysed, results will be available at a local and national level.
The survey has been developed by SLIC and the Association of Public Library Services in Scotland (APLS). SLIC will host the online version (link below) and will analyse all data received. You are encouraged to complete online but also provided is a print version, completed paper forms can be handed in to libraries.
Local UNISON members in the Council’s Waste Service will go on strike from Thursday 10 August to Sunday 13 August 2023 (inclusive) as part of industrial action over pay.
As a result, scheduled household bin collections will be impacted.
Household waste recycling centres at Lower Polmaise, Balfron and Callander will also be closed from 10-13 August and will open again as normal on Monday 14 August.
The Council will deploy the following contingency plans, with more detailed information available at www.stirling.gov.uk/wastestrike
Brown Bins – Garden and food waste
Brown bin collections due on these dates are delayed and will be rescheduled, commencing Tuesday 15 August.
Glass
There will be no glass collections from 10-13 August. We encourage residents to store their glass until their next scheduled collection. Alternatively, glass can be disposed of at the nearest glass recycling point. If recycling bins are full, we ask people to please take glass home.
Blue bins – Plastics, cans and cartons
There will be no blue bin collections for the whole week commencing Monday 14 August. This is to accommodate the delayed collection of brown bins. We encourage residents to store their blue bin recycling until the next collection or visit their local Household Waste and Recycling Centre, which will be open as normal on Monday 14 August.
Grey Bins
Grey bins due for collection week commencing Monday 14 August will be collected as normal.
Commercial Waste
There will be disruption to commercial general waste and recycling collections during the period of industrial action. Detailed collection updates for commercial waste customers can be found at www.stirling.gov.uk/wastestrike
Children in Stirling are being encouraged to keep their minds active at the end of term, with the return of the Summer Reading Challenge.
Throughout the summer holidays, children aged 4-11 can take part in ‘Ready, Set, Read!’ by visiting any Stirling Council library or the Summer Reading Challenge website. The theme of this year’s challenge is centred on the power of play, sport and physical activity.
Through activity challenge cards from the Youth Sport Trust, and an exciting themed book collection, the Summer Reading Challenge aims to keep imaginations flowing over the school holiday.
By participating in the challenge, young bookworms will have the opportunity to explore new reading material, develop skills, and discover new interests.
As an added incentive to take part, children who complete the Summer Reading Challenge will qualify for free admission to a number of attractions and activities across Stirling, through partnerships formed with the Council’s Libraries Service.
The free activities* that are offered for completing the reading challenge with Stirling Council Libraries include:
– Free admission to Blair Drummond Safari Park
– Free admission to Briarlands Farm
– Free admission to the National Wallace Monument
– Free entry for swimming at The Peak, The University of Stirling Sport or Bellrock Balfron Campus
Please see the link here to the latest edition of Stirling Council’s CD News.
Contents include articles on the local council elections, mental health awareness week and digital password managers.
Did you know it’s not just books you can borrow from Stirling Council Libraries – users can now stay connected online following the launch of a free tablet lending service.
Any member of Stirling Council Libraries can now borrow a tablet and MiFi with free, unlimited data for up to three weeks. The innovative service is available across all 15 libraries as well as the two mobile libraries.
MiFis, which are wireless routers, are provided in partnership with Connecting Scotland and allow users to stay online at home and on the move.
Residents who wish to become a member of Stirling Council Libraries and access the service should go to their local branch with two forms of identification, one of which must have their current address, and speak to a member of staff.
Further information about the tablet lending service is available by emailing Angela Short, Digital Inclusion Officer, at shortan@stirling.gov.uk or calling 01786 237 547.
Please see the link to the March issue of Stirling Council Community Development Bulletin.
https://www.stirling.gov.uk/media/3tifxwcy/2023_03_cdnews9.pdf
Items in this issue include, e.g
Information about Community Council Elections
Bowls and a brew at the Balfour Centre
how to make money by de-cluttering
Funding opportunities
This issue has useful information about Dial-a Journey, hiring a tablet computer and sources of support.
https://www.stirling.gov.uk/media/oaedj4i5/2023_02_cdnews8.pdf
Please see link to the latest Stirling Council CD News Bulletin full of interesting articles relevant to communities
https://www.stirling.gov.uk/media/ppti155d/cd-news-january-2023.pdf