Stirling Council is bringing its Big Conversation to a venue near you - making sure everyone has a chance to shape our budget for 2019/2020.
Over 1,000 local voices have so far been heard from people who completed our online Big Conversation survey but we’re not finished listening. Far from it.
Starting on October 15, a series of Big Conversation events will take place across the Stirling Council area as part of our aim of putting communities at the heart of our budget planning.
The Council needs to make £24million of savings over the next four years, which means transforming the way we deliver our services and making some tough decisions.
As part of this process we want to have an open and honest discussion about the services that are most important to you.
Council Leader Scott Farmer said: “This is your chance to have your voice heard. We all have a part to play in making Stirling a success. It’s in ALL our interests.
“These Big Conversation events over the next month are reaching out to communities from every walk of life all across Stirling Council. From businesses to foodbanks, taxi drivers to cyclists, elderly care homes to toddler groups - we want to everyone to get involved.
“We want your thoughts on the many suggestions that have already come from the Big Conversation online survey and this is your chance to have your say on the ideas already being discussed – and contribute new ones.
“Remember, we need to hear from you to know what you want.”
The core principle behind the Big Conversation is to unearth ideas about how the Council can do things better and more efficiently.
Stirling Council spends around £317million on services annually – 75 per cent of which comes in Government grants.
Our spending includes:
• £81m on Education
• picking up waste from 42,000 homes
• maintaining over 1000km of road network within the Stirling Council area
The public is already shaping the budget going forward with an astonishing 706 ideas coming in from the Big Conversation online survey. A further 334 ideas came in from Council staff.
The Community events are the next phase of the process and are open to everyone.
Interim Chief Executive, Carol Beattie, said: “We are encouraging everyone to get involved in this and to have their say as part of the Big Conversation. We also want community groups to play a part by organising their own events and we will be releasing further information on how to do this.
“The Big Conversation aims to give the communities and people who use our services every day a central role in helping us to understand how we can make Stirling prosperous, healthy, achieving and resilient.
“Stirling Council is giving all of its 93,000 residents the opportunity to help us shape our future together.”
Find a Big Conversation event near you!