Wishing our readers an enjoyable Burns Night!
Patersons Quarries
Patersons Quarries Limited have confirmed that they are planning to recommence quarrying sometime later this year. This will be subject to Patersons meeting the 16 conditions stipulated by the Scottish Report who gave final approved of the planning application for the access road to the quarry from Polmaise Road.
Work has already started on Polmaise Road and this will ramp up over the coming months. Patersons have stated that once quarrying starts they expect to quarry around 200,000 tonnes per year with 30-40 trucks arriving & leaving per day Monday to Saturday.
Tree Health Inspection
We are delighted to tell you that Scottish Forestry’s inspection of a larch tree in our wood in December did not find evidence of Phytophthora Ramorum infection. This is the same disease whose presence led to a Statutory Plant Health Notice (SPHN) which required the felling of the large area of larch in the community woodland in 2022. There is no further action required this time but Scottish Forestry will continue to carry out aerial surveys looking for evidence of tree diseases.
Stirling Lottery
We have been raising money through the Stirling Community Lottery for four years now. Last year we raised £225 towards our costs. We need your help to pay for insurance, maintenance and equipment in order to progress our projects, particularly those in Gillies Hill Community Woodland. For more details click on the link below to access our dedicated page.
If you use the hill regularly, why not support us by buying a ticket every week, and you might win a prize!
https://www.stirlingcommunitylottery.scot/support/cambusbarron-community-development-trust
The Walled Garden
Our volunteers made lots of progress in 2025. Planting in 2025 resulted in lots of vegetables. These were shared to the Community Larder allowing villagers to enjoy fresh, healthy, home-grown produce. Hopefully we will be able to build on this in 2026.
We also planted heritage fruit trees in the orchard below the newly lowered buttress yew hedge. We plan to install additional seating and shaded areas to make it welcoming and accessible to all.
With the clearing of the ‘Dark Wids’ the garden is going to be so much warmer and there will also be much more light. This will improve the productivity of the orchard to the level it was in the days when the garden was a kitchen garden.
The garden volunteers hosted a wreath making event at Christmas and hopefully we will be able to organise more ‘special events’ later this year.
The Walled Garden is an attractive and inclusive space and we hope that it will continue to grow as a centre for community engagement. Volunteer Days are held regularly on a Saturday, do join us!