STIRLING COUNCIL STILL TO DECIDE

There were furious scenes at the meeting of Stirling Council on Thursday evening (24th May). Labour councillors were accused of “bottling” a vote to elect the Leader of the council, and of cynically manipulating procedures in order to hang on to power.

Labour were in control of the administration until the election on 3rd May. Following the election, Labour have 8 councillors, SNP have 7, Conservatives 4 and Liberals 3.

Liberal and Labour have made an informal alliance. At the meeting of the council on 17th May, Labour and the Liberals forced through the election of a Labour provost. However, the election of the Leader of the council, and the election of all the other executive and committee posts, was deferred.

With Labour and Liberals controlling 11 votes out of 22, they have the benefit of the provost’s casting vote for procedural matters but not for appointments to the various council posts including Leader. In the event of a tied vote the decision would be made by a cut of the cards.

At yesterday’s meeting (24th May) the Labour-Liberal alliance deferred the vote for the Leader and all the other posts, leaving the council’s administration in chaos. Until these posts are filled every single decision, from the most important to the most minor, will have to be decided by a meeting of the full council. Labour and Liberals intend to make the council meet every Thursday at 10.00 in the morning.

The leader of the Conservative group at Stirling Council is Cllr Alistair Berrill. He says that Labour and the Liberals are playing games at the expense of the people of Stirling. “The council’s business is set to grind to a halt. A large modern council cannot function by meeting every week to take every single decision. Labour and the Liberals know this perfectly well, but the effective running of the council is clearly less important to them than desperately clinging on to hope of power and allowances.”

He added, “The ironic thing is that the one piece of business they insisted on forcing through last night was approval of councillors’ expenses. The Conservatives made a formal proposal that councillors’ expenses should not be paid until this mess is sorted out, but Labour and the Liberals voted it down.”

Cllr Berrill added a prediction. “Election of the Leader of the council has been formally deferred until 28th June. However, there will be other meetings before that date. If one councillor happens to be absent due to sickness or other commitments, I am sure that once again Labour and Liberals will manipulate the Standing Orders to bring forward the election as urgent business, and force through their nomination. So much for democracy!”

A MISSED OPPORTUNITY BY THE SNP

At Thursday's meeting of Stirling Council, the first since the elections, Liberal councillors joined with Labour to elect Labour's Margaret Brisley as provost. Together the Liberals and Labour accounted for her eleven votes. Conservative nomination Cllr Tony Ffinch received four votes. If SNP councillors had supported the Conservative nomination, Labour could have been defeated, but the SNP abstained.

Speaking after the meeting, Conservative group leader, Cllr Alistair Berrill said, 'This was an opportunity missed for the people of Stirling. The Liberals are propping up a failed Labour administration, whose main achievement has been to give Stirling the second highest council tax level in Scotland, yet one of the highest levels of customer dissatisfaction.'

He continued, 'I was surprised and disappointed on Thursday night. First the Liberals joined this discredited and demoralised Labour administration. Then the SNP group lacked the political courage either to put up a candidate of their own or to support ours. Only the Conservatives were prepared to stand up to Labour.'

Deputy group leader Cllr Neil Benny added, 'The fight isn't over yet. At this Thursday's meeting we have to elect a new Leader of the council, and the new Labour-Liberal alliance isn't certain of getting enough votes to win.'

DUNBLANE COMMUNITY COUNCIL

The minutes of the Dunblane Community Council meeting which was held on Monday 2nd April can be read by clicking here. Read all the updates concerning CCTV, parking, zebra crossings, grass cutting, and the Dunblane Development Trust.

BRIDGE OF ALLAN COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Minutes from the Bridge of Allan Community Council meeting held on Tuesday 17th April can be read by clicking here.Read all about the updates concerning the proposed Kildean - Stirling University link road, the latest issues concerning the proceeds from the sale of the Museum Hall, and an insight into the restoration of the fountain in Fountain Road.

CALLUM CAMPBELL ELECTED

Callum Campbell has been elected to Stirling Council, representing the Dunblane and Bridge of Allan ward.

"I am delighted to have been elected by Dunblane and Bridge of Allan residents to represent them on Stirling Council. The Scottish Conservatives received the largest number of first preference votes in this ward, and I look forward to serving on Stirling Council on behalf of those people who voted for a new direction and a better community" Callum Campbell said.

"I would particularly like to thank my agent and campaign manager, Euan Wallace, for the immense amount of time and effort that he has put into this campaign. I would also like to thank all those local individuals who contributed greatly to our efforts in getting our communication leaflets to all the electorate in the ward.

"There is plenty of work which needs to be done, and it starts now".