Stirling Council backs participatory budgeting

A new form of community-led investment is coming to Stirling with the official launch of Participatory Budgeting.

Your Stirling: You Decide, will give the people of Stirling a direct say over how and where part of Stirling Council’s budget is spent, heralding a new age of community level democracy.

Your Stirling: You Decide is Stirling’s version of the initiative and is backed by an injection of £700,000 from the Council in its first year.

Stirling Council Leader, Cllr Scott Farmer, said: “We have always engaged with our communities when setting our budgets but this takes things to the next level.

“Residents will now have the chance to dictate spending - from the idea stage straight to the delivery of services – changing the way we conduct local democracy.

“So, if you want additions made to your local play park, or believe that your village could do with new fences or an upgrade to the local footpath, this is the chance to make that happen.”

Stirling Council has allocated £700,000 to Your Stirling: You Decide, which will be split evenly between the area’s seven electoral wards.

In the first year, the focus will be on infrastructure and environment projects and there are three simple steps to the process:

• The public generate ideas

• People vote for their preferences

• The projects with the most votes are funded.

Engagement with the community has already begun to help explain the process, and full details are available online at the Stirling Council website via my.stirling.gov.uk/youdecide