by Communications TEAM | Apr 13, 2024 | announcement, News, Planning
With huge thanks to the community of Bridge of Allan we are delighted to confirm that the community bid for ownership of Sunnylaw Meadow was successful!
As a result of the overwhelming community support we were able to submit a bid to the owners of the land at closing date on 27 March, and after a nail biting wait we were notified that our bid was successful.
The community purchase would not have been successful without the support of the residents of Bridge of Allan, whether that was offering words of support, completing and sharing our survey, offering a financial donation to support the purchase, putting up posters in the community or joining the action group who led the work. We also want to say thank you to others in the community who had considered making a private offer on the land as an investment opportunity, but decided instead to withdraw in support of the community purchase.
Our local lawyers, Mailers, are now working through details to finalise the purchase, and we’ll keep the community up to date with timescales for that. In the meantime the Sunnylaw Action Group will continue to meet and plan for the ongoing management of the land, based on the almost 400 responses we received to our community survey. One of our first tasks will be putting in place a regular maintenance schedule, so if you’re interested in helping with that please get in touch.
All decisions on the future use of the Meadow will be progressed through Discover Bridge of Allan, our local Development Trust, who will hold the land in trust for the community. To ensure you’re involved in decisions, and have the opportunity to have your say, please sign up for free membership if you haven’t already.
We’ll soon be launching the Our Bridge of Allan survey – keep an eye out for further updates.
Thank you again to everyone for making this happen
Chair, Sunnylaw Action Group
Thanks to the concerned and interested local residents who brought this opportunity to our attention, the members of the Community Council, Ward Councillors, Discover Bridge of Allan and local residents working together as the Sunnylaw Action Group who have shown what great results can be achieved by working together for the benefit of the community.
by Communications TEAM | Apr 6, 2024 | announcement, News, Planning
The planning of the Flood Protection Scheme for Bridge of Allan has been ongoing for some time now.
See our updates from March 19th 2022, and March 4th 2022
The process has now reached the notification stage with Stirling Council proposing the pictured option to take forward. The notification stage is now open for 28 days to 23rd April 2024. The new defence aims to protect 87 properties and 700 meters of road from flooding, with the scheme providing a 50 year standard of protection level.
The scheme will cost £15 million to construct and has been awarded 80% funding from the Scottish Government, with the remaining £3 million from Stirling Council. Work is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2026 and will last an estimated 12 months.
Stirling council will be holding two in-person meetings and two online meetings and would appreciate your participation:
In-person drop-in events will be held at Bridge of Allan library:
- Tuesday 16th April 2024: 2pm- 7pm
- Thursday 18th April 2024: 9am- 1pm
Online information sessions will be held via Microsoft Teams:
- Wednesday 17th April 6pm- 7pm
You are asked you register your details for one of the meeting time slots by Monday 15th April. This will help Stirling Council to share meeting links and necessary materials in advance of the online session. To register for the meeting or to request an alternative time, please email flooding@stirling.gov.uk or call a member of the flooding team on 01786 404040
Interested in reducing flood risk on the Allan Water catchment? You might like to learn about what Forth Rivers Trust are doing upstream to implement Natural Flood Management https://forthriverstrust.org/project/allan-water-project/
Check your local flood risk on SEPA’s interactive map: https://map.sepa.org.uk/floodmaps/FloodRisk/Risk
by Communications TEAM | Mar 24, 2024 | announcement, News, Planning
We wanted to say a huge thanks to all of you who took the time to give your views as part of our sunnylaw survey, which closed last week.
Almost 400 of you fed in to the survey about future use and management of the land.
As we head ever closer to the closing date for the sale we are staying to plan (optimistically) how we will use and manage the land once it’s in community ownership. Discover Bridge of Allan, our local development trust, are the body who will hold ownership of the land on behalf of the community, but they will be directed by the views of their members. So we’re encouraging all Bridge of Allan residents to join if they’ve not already done so.
Membership is free and can be completed here: https://www.discoverbridgeofallan.org/membership
by Communications TEAM | Mar 11, 2024 | announcement, News, Planning
Lots has happened since our last update in February, with the action group meeting fortnightly to ensure we’re in the best possible position to secure ownership of the Sunnylaw land for the community.
As well as launching our community survey, https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CCBOASUNNY which is open until Friday 15 March, we have been working on our bid for the purchase. We want to tell the owners of the land more about our community and why selling this land to us would mean so much. The responses we’ve had to the survey so far have helped us tell that story – so thank you to the 350 of you who have already responded. If you haven’t had a chance to respond yet, please take a few minutes to complete the survey – the more responses we have the stronger our case is.
We heard this week that we can’t use the Common Good Fund to buy the land – this was always a possible outcome, and while it’s disappointing, it’s not the end of our bid.
A number of very generous local residents have pledged financial support to allow us to privately fund a bid on the land, which will give us the funding to make an offer as planned. If that’s something you’d be interested in discussing please get in touch with the group through amanda@ccbridgeofallan.org.uk before the 18th March.
Not only do we have the funding to make an offer but our very own Development Trust, Discover Bridge of Allan, is in a position to act as the holder of the land for the community. This means that the future management of Sunnylaw would be co-ordinated through the trust, and that any decisions about how to use it would be made through the community.
Everyone who lives in Bridge of Allan can become a member of the trust for free, ensuring you’ll have a say in any decisions about Sunnylaw once its in community ownership.
We’ll update you again closer to the closing date for the land – get in touch through this page if you want to find out more.
by Communications TEAM | Feb 9, 2024 | announcement, News, Planning
Since our last update in December the Sunnylaw Action Group has been working on options and idea for the possible purchase of, and future use of, the land on Sunnylaw Road (shown in the map below).
The land will be sold at a closing date at the end of March, and we want to gather as many community views as possible to help us decide on next steps.
You can complete the survey here Https://www.SurveyMonkey.com/r/CCBOASUNNY.
The surevy will be open until Friday 15th of March.
Please share the survey across your contacts and networks.
The group will meet fortnightly until the end of March, with further progress updates shared via our website and social media.
sunnylaw
by Communications TEAM | Dec 6, 2023 | announcement, News, Planning
In November 2023, a plot of open space on Sunnylaw Road (between Mine and Mid Woods) was advertised for sale at auction. The area, which comprises roughly 2.4 hectares, is shown on the image above. This green space is currently open public space, and while privately owned it has been maintained by Stirling Council on behalf of the community. However, this maintenance is due to end this year as the council looks to make savings.
Many community members were concerned about the sale and the potential for the land to be sold for development. The community council shared this concern and first discussed the issue at our November meeting, with many local residents in attendance. We agreed at that meeting to set up a separate open discussion on the sale of the land at Sunnylaw, with all interested groups agreeing to come along. The purpose of the group is to explore options for keeping the land in community use and ownership for years to come.
At the first meeting of the Sunnylaw Land Group we heard ideas and suggestions from local groups and residents about how the community could purchase the land. We agreed at that meeting to contact the sellers and their agents to ask that the land was removed from the auction and consideration was given to gifting /transferring the land to the community. We have now heard back from the sellers to confirm they are happy to postpone auction of the land to allow a discussion with the community about options for purchasing the land.
Share your views
We have met twice since that first meeting to discuss our options and agree a way forward – with a first step being to undertake a community survey to understand the views of as many Bridge of Allan residents as possible. The survey will be launching soon and we hope you take a few minutes to give us your views. The survey will seek views about current and possible future use of the land, and options for funding a purchase. Some community groups have expressed an interest in using some of the land – we need to understand how residents feel about this.
A community purchase of the land ensures that it can remain as a public open space, which is in line with the current planning framework for the area through the Local Development Plan. We are also starting work on the development of a Local Place Plan for the area, which will give the Council a clear direction from the Bridge of Allan community on our priorities for our local community.
Do you have the skills to help?
A small group of interested residents, with support from a group of Community Councillors, have continued to meet and explore options for the purchase with a view to sourcing funding and offering on the land. While we have enthusiasm and commitment in the group, we don’t have all the professional knowledge, skills and experience that will be needed. Input from wider residents and those with that expertise is welcome as this process develops.
