Stirling (council area)


The Stirling council area is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about . It was created under the Local Government etc Act 1994 with the boundaries of the Stirling district of the former Central local government region, and it covers most of Stirlingshire and the south-western portion of Perthshire. Both counties were abolished for local government purposes under the Local Government Act 1973.
The administrative centre of the area is the city of Stirling.
The area borders the council areas of Clackmannanshire, North Lanarkshire, Falkirk, Perth and Kinross, Argyll and Bute, and both East and West Dunbartonshire to Stirling's southwest.
The majority of the population of the area is located in its southeast corner, in the city of Stirling and in the surrounding lowland communities: Bridge of Allan and Dunblane to the north, Bannockburn to the immediate south, and the three former coal mining communities of Cowie, Fallin, and Plean, known collectively as the "Eastern Villages".
The remaining 30 percent of the region's population is sparsely distributed across the rural, mainly highland, expanse in the north of the region. The southern half of this rural area comprises the flat western floodplain of the River Forth, bounded on the south by the Touch Hills and the Campsie Fells. North of the glen lie the Trossachs mountains, and the northern half of the region is generally mountainous in character.

The Council

As with all local authorities in Scotland, Stirling Council has a number of multi-member wards electing representatives under the single transferable vote system.
PartyCouncillors
Scottish National Party9
Conservative8
Labour4
Green Party1
Independent1

The wards and their councillors are:
The council is currently run as a partnership agreement between the Scottish National Party and Scottish Labour. Councillor Scott Farmer was elected as Council Leader with Councillor Danny Gibson elected as Depute Leader. Councillor Christine Simpson is Provost of Stirling Council.

Settlements

As well as the city of Stirling itself, there are many towns, villages and hamlets spread across the council area:

Towns