Stirling Council leader and rural chiefs enter into war of words following budget meeting

Relations appear to have become strained in the immediate aftermath of a meeting between rural representatives and Stirling Council’s leader.

A meeting took place recently between community council representatives and Councillor Chris Kane ahead of what is expected to be a particularly challenging budget for the authority.

As reported by the Observer last month, Strathard Community Council instigated an effort across Stirling’s rural communities, with community councils across the area worried about the impact on a host of areas of rural life including education and nursery provision, transport, road maintenance, public toilets, community halls, libraries and road end bin collections.

Stirling Council is seeking to close an estimated £13million budget gap in 24/25, and a further £5million in 25/26 in order to balance the books, with the budget setting meeting scheduled for the end of this month.

As previously reported by the Observer, grim budget savings suggestions have been flagged up in a public consultation – including closing community centres, libraries and public toilets and reducing school and nursery hours.

While some of the options suggested by officers may not ultimately be accepted by councillors, there are already warnings that difficult decisions may have to be taken to balance the books.

Paul Mackintosh, chairman of Strathard Community Council, and its treasurer Catherine Cairns, met with Councillor Kane at the end of last week on behalf of several rural community councils.

But subsequent correspondence between the parties, however, seen by the Observer, showed their interpretation of the meeting differed considerably in several respects – leading Cllr Kane to write he was “appalled” that any of his comments had been “misrepresented”.

A summary of the meeting issued by the community councillors for other interested parties said: “Paul Mackintosh, representing the rural community councils, voiced concerns that the proposed cuts disproportionately affect rural communities.

“Cllr Kane argued that residents living in rural communities should potentially pay higher council tax as it costs more to provide them with basic services. “He cited the higher costs of educating children in small rural schools and collecting waste from communities further away from waste management centres.”

Stirling Council leader Councillor Chris Kane

However, this and some other comments prompted Councillor Kane to reply: “I absolutely do NOT think it is appropriate to charge rural communities more for basic services. I made the point to Paul and Catherine that I wished the Scottish Government would give more consideration to the sheer scale of Stirling’s geography when allocating budget as it does cost more to provide services in a mainly rural council than a mainly urban one.

“To take that to mean I would support charging rural communities more for services is, frankly, offensive to me.”

Responding to Councillor Kane, Mr Mackintosh then messaged: “I am sorry to hear that you are appalled and utterly dismayed, perhaps these are feelings that are shared among the rural communities of Stirling, of the way The Big Conversation survey has been conducted and the lack of quantitative and qualitative information provided to the public and residents of Stirling.”

Councillor Kane later told Mr Mackintosh: “I hope we can find a way to put the last 48 hours behind us and move forward in a respectful and constructive way. But I will not stand for inaccurate reporting of my position on budget matters.”