Some weeks ago Allanwater Developments Ltd submitted a planning application for the erection of 19 dwellings on the meadow east of the Braeport Centre. This is the first firm proposal by Allanwater Developments since they bought Holmehill in 2006. It marks a crucial stage in the campaign to preserve the amenity of the site.
The application has today (25th January 2012) been temporarily withdrawn because it mis-states the ownership of the northern corner of the site. (This is the proposed access route.) As a result the application is no longer visible on the Council’s Planning website.
However, it is likely that the application will be resubmitted after correction, and that it will be very similar. Objections already received by the Council will be kept on file, and new objections can still be made.
The Holmehill Community Buyout Group strongly opposes this application. We are currently preparing our detailed response. It will stress the following points:
The 2012 Holmehill Calendar is still available. You can obtain a copy by phoning us on 07500 161 397 and leaving a message.
The Calendar costs £5 and has 12 beautiful main photographs to see you through 2012, as well as many smaller images of the hill.
This beautifully produced booklet is available from the Library in Dunblane.
Have you seen Holmehill Community Buyout’s leaflet and map of Green Walks in Central Dunblane? You should! It has been produced in order to help residents and visitors to Dunblane enjoy its central green spaces with their rich history, flora and fauna. The map provides a bird’s eye view of local landmarks and the many footpaths that exist in the area, some of which might be unknown even to local people.
The leaflet and map cover not just Holmehill but also the Laighhills, Ochlochy Park, the Riverside, the grounds of the Hydro Hotel and Knockmafuddy Wood.
Contributions towards the costs of the leaflet came from the Double Tree Dunblane Hydro, Scottish Natural Heritage and Holmehill Community Buyout. The leaflet is available free from many local outlets in Dunblane including the Museum, the Burgh Chambers, the Cathedral and the Library. A copy of the A3 colour map can be downloaded from our main website www.holmehill.org.
Here are the Board meeting dates for 2012. All the meeting are in the Braeport Centre, Dunblane, and start at 7.30pm.
Click here to see the minutes of recent meetings.
Image: John Hamilton Mortimer (1740-1779) Captain James Cook, Sir Joseph Banks, Lord Sandwich, Dr Daniel Solander and Dr John Hawkesworth. National Library of Australia, nla.pic-an7351768.
We have started to publish the minutes of open Board meetings through this page. Click the link to see a particular meeting’s minutes.
Click here to see the dates of forthcoming meetings.
On Saturday 29th October 2011 we organised a Litter Pick on Holmehill. Perhaps this is not everyone’s idea of fun- picking up rubbish on a rather dreary Saturday morning! In fact though, ten volunteers turned up, including Ishbel in her pram, and shared camaraderie made it an enjoyable and worthwhile experience. We did remove part of a rather large metal tank which presumably graced the large house or grounds in its heyday; a sodden chair seat; the usual bottles, tins and cigarette packets; a large sheet of plastic; and (a novelty item) a bright blue paddling pool.
However there was not really much litter since people tend to remove the bottles and stuff when walking. For example, the day before I had picked up about four bottles and put them in an easy place to collect but they disappeared. People do value this beautiful green hill in the heart of Dunblane and tend to want to conserve its beauty.
Lorraine Darwen
Dawn Chorus May 8th 2011
A dozen hardy souls gathered at the Braeport Centre in Dunblane just before 5am for the Annual Holmehill Dawn Chorus event on Sunday 8th May. The array of waterproofs, hats and umbrellas reflected the dark clouds overhead, but it was warm and such minor irritations as rain were not going to dampen the enthusiasm of those who had woken early (!). The promise of bacon and eggs on our return was enough to see the party head up the hill in good spirits. Local birders, Chris Spray (Holmehill chairman) and Douglas Kerr were the group’s leaders; there to help identify species by song and sight as we walked through Holmehill and down by the river.
The light rain and dark clouds didn’t seem to have put off the Blackbirds, several males of which were singing loudly, as were Chaffinches, Great tits and Wrens from the trees on the hill. It was clearly too early (or too damp!) though for the local Rooks who were almost totally silent as we passed the main rookery, though Jackdaws and Crows were a little more obvious. Although many Robins had been singing earlier in the half-light of dawn, and under the street lights, they were now surprisingly quiet. Both Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps however were singing strongly – two of our summer visitors – but completely silent today were Song Thrushes and Woodpeckers, both of which have been very vocal in earlier weeks on the hill.
As we left the hill, a lone Swift was seen, this generally the last of the returning migrant birds to reach Dunblane each summer, nesting up on the Hydro, in Ramoyle and the Cathedral. The walk through Ramoyle produced House Sparrows and Starlings, and then down by the stream we had excellent views of 3 more warbler species – Whitethroats, Sedge Warblers and Willow Warblers – heard Goldcrest singing and saw the first of several Herons. Across the railway and the main river produced a flock of Sand Martins by the sand cliff, and then further on we saw three of the typical species found on fast flowing, rocky rivers – Common Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail and Dipper – as well as another very confiding Heron, Mallards, Goldfinches and a group of 7 Magpies (“for a secret never to be told”).
By the time we returned to Braeport, there were even patches of blue appearing in the sky, and we had managed to hear or see some 33 species, despite the earlier rain. Two Roe deer provided us all with good views on the hill again just behind the Centre, and then it was those welcoming Bacon butties, tea and coffee.
A huge thanks too all who turned up despite the weather, and made it such an enjoyable walk, and especially to libby for organsiation, to Clare, Libby and Debbie for cooking breakfast and to Douglas and Chris for guidance and identifcation skills. See you again next year, when the weather will be hot and sunny……..
Friday 24th June
A sunny day at last, and a very pale looking Buzzard was soaring over the hill this morning as I approached, much to the concern of the resident Jackdaws, some 60 of which were in the air swirling around and calling loudly at the Buzzard as it passed over. The local Carrion crows added their protests to the general throng, but the Rooks seemed too busy to join in. A female Roe deer was equally unconcerned, nibbling away at the leaves beneath one of the thickets with out a glance.
Back closer to the ground, a pair of Blackcaps were obviously feeding young in a nest hidden away in the brambles and there were a lot of young Great and Blue tits following their parents through the trees, as they searched for caterpillars and other prey on the leaves. The good weather also brought groups of Swifts and House martins flying between the trees hawking for insects. Many of the trees though have broken branches, the results of all the storms and high winds we have had, and one massive old Beech tree near the Rookery has snapped at about ten feet up and crashed to the ground.
The white flowers of the pignut are almost over, but there were lots of black moths flying between the plants. These are Chimney sweepers, which feed on pignut, and are one of a number of day-flying moths, though their flight is not very strong. By comparison, there were also several much stronger flying butterflies on the wing today - Ringlets, which as the name suggest have a group of small white rings on their otherwise dark coloured wings. Otherwise the ground is dominated by the yellow of the buttercups and the small blue flowers of the Germander speedwell, with an occasional splash of red from the Campions, and odd patches of white where Heath bedstraw is growing.
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