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Stirling

Sruighlea
Stirlin
Stirling in Scotland.svg
Coat of arms of Stirling
Coat of arms
Official logo of Stirling
Council logo
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Country Scotland
Lieutenancy area Stirling and Falkirk
Admin HQ Stirling
Government
 • Body Stirling Council
Area
 • Total 844 sq mi (2,187 km2)
Area rank Ranked 9th
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 94,330
 • Rank Ranked 24th
 • Density 111.712/sq mi (43.132/km2)
ONS code S12000030
ISO 3166 code GB-STG

The Stirling council area (Scots: Stirlin; Scottish Gaelic: Sruighlea) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about 94,330 (2017 estimate). 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.

History

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:

From Perthshire:

From Stirlingshire:

  • Bridge of Allan Burgh
  • Central No. 1 District
  • Stirling Burgh
  • Western No. 1 District
  • Western No. 2 District

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.

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.

Governance

Stirling
Coat of arms or logo
Leadership
Douglas Dodds,
Conservative
Since 19 May 2022
Chris Kane,
Labour
Since 19 May 2022
Carol Beattie
Since 2018
Structure
Seats 23 councillors
United Kingdom Stirling Council 2024.svg
Political groups
Administration (8)
     Conservative (8)
Other parties (15)
     SNP (7)
     Labour (5)
     Independents (2)
     Greens (1)
Elections
Single transferable vote
Last election
6 May 2022
Next election
6 May 2027
Meeting place
Viewforth House Stirling.jpg
Old Viewforth, Pitt Terrace, Stirling, FK8 2ET


Leadership

The first leader of the council, Corrie McChord, had been the last leader of the Central Regional Council. The leaders since 1996 have been:

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

Premises

Stirling Council Head Quarters - geograph.org.uk - 131346
Old Viewforth: The 1937 wing behind the original house

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. The house was bought by Stirlingshire County Council in 1931 for £5,250 and converted to become its headquarters. A large art deco extension was added to the rear of the house, opening in 1937. A new building called New Viewforth was built alongside the older premises in 1972, shortly before Stirlingshire County Council was abolished.

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. On local government reorganisation in 1996 Stirling Council took over Viewforth. The 1972 building known as New Viewforth was demolished in 2014.

Elections

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:

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.
2003 22 0 10 12 0 0 0
2007 22 7 4 8 0 3 0 New ward boundaries.
2012 22 9 4 8 1 0 0
2017 23 9 9 4 1 0 0 New ward boundaries.
2022 23 8 7 6 1 0 1 Labour minority administration with Conservative support.

Current composition

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

Wards

Stirling UK ward map 2017 (blank)
Map of the area's wards (2017 configuration)

The wards are:

Ward
Number
Ward Name Location Seats
1 Trossachs and Teith Trossachs and Teith.svg 3
2 Forth and Endrick Fort and Endrick.svg 3
3 Dunblane and Bridge of Allan Dunblane and Bridge of Allan.svg 4
4 Stirling North Stirling North.svg 4
5 Stirling West Stirling West.svg 3
6 Stirling East Stirling East.svg 3
7 Bannockburn Bannockburn.svg 3

Communities

The area is divided into 42 community council areas, all of which have community councils as at 2023.

Settlements

Topo map Stirling Dunbartonshire
Topographic map of Stirling and East and West Dunbartonshire

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 (2020)
Stirling 37910
Dunblane 9310
Bannockburn 6720
Bridge of Allan 5320
Callander 3080
Fallin 2850
Cowie 2720
Doune 2200
Balfron 2140
Strathblane 2000

Towns

Villages

Hamlets

Dispersed settlements

Places of interest

See also

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