Welcome to the latest Community Council Newsletter.
We hope you find the information in this newsletter useful, and ask that you share as appropriate around your networks.
 Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday 2024
Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday are opportunities for us all to remember the service and sacrifice of all those who have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life.
Every year, The Royal British Legion Scotland (Legion Scotland) asks us to unite in commemorating Remembrance Sunday to make sure that no-one is forgotten and to remember and honour those who have sacrificed themselves to secure and protect our freedom.
A range of events is planned to remember the service and sacrifice of all those that have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life. Please share these around your networks.
Festival of Remembrance
The Veterans Garden Dumfries, with support from the Royal British Legion Scotland Dumfries and Maxwelltown Branch, and Dumfries and Galloway Council, is organising the Dumfries Festival of Remembrance. The event will be held on Saturday 9 November at the Crichton Church, Bankend Road, Dumfries at 7pm. Tickets are priced at £10 and are available from Veterans Garden, Anderson Kilts and Molly May's Tearoom.
Download the Festival of Remembrance poster
Remembrance Sunday 10 November
Services of Remembrance and wreath laying-ceremonies will take place at war memorials and in faith venues across Dumfries and Galloway in honour of those who lost their lives in the two world wars and the many conflicts since then.
Councillor Archie Dryburgh MBE, Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Armed Forces Champion, will lay a wreath at 11am at Annan War Memorial.
Councillor Gail Macgregor, Depute Convener of Dumfries and Galloway Council will lay a wreath at 11am at Lockerbie War Memorial, High Street, Lockerbie.
Provost Maureen Johnstone will lay a wreath on behalf of the people of Dumfries at 11am at St John’s War Memorial, Newall Terrace, Dumfries.
In addition, wreaths will also be laid at all of the other war memorials across Dumfries and Galloway by elected members of Dumfries and Galloway Council, and in some locations on their behalf by community councillors and other organisations’ representatives.
Wreaths are also being laid by New Scots in our region’s Resettlement Scheme in towns and villages where we have a significant presence: Stranraer, Castle Douglas, Dumfries, Sanquhar, Kelloholm, Lockerbie and Annan.
Lord-Lieutenants, Vice and Deputy Lieutenants will also be laying wreaths at ceremonies across the region.
Armistice Day Monday 11 November
A national two-minute silence will be held on Monday, 11 November at 11am in respect of, and to remember, those who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom.
As a mark of respect, flags will be flown at all council flag-flying locations across the region from Friday 8 to Tuesday 12 November.
 Registration for Garden Waste Collection Service
Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Garden Waste Collection Service will commence from March 2025. Registration for the scheme launched on 1 October.
The opt-in service provides residents across the region with access to kerbside collections of garden waste every two weeks between March and November. A garden waste permit is priced at £40 per bin and customers can apply for more than one permit per household. A 50% reduction fee will be offered to those in receipt of Council Tax Reduction where applicable.
Residents signing up before 30 November will have their bin and permits delivered during February for collections starting in March 2025. Registrations signed up from 1 December 2024 will have their collections start in June 2025.
The key benefits of registering for the garden waste collection service are:
- It gives you ease of access to garden recycling.
- It ensures your collected waste is composted.
- It will free up space in your general waste bin.
- You will actively help to reduce the reliance on peat-based compost.
We are encouraging residents to register early to ensure their collections start from March giving them the best value from their permit. All residents in Dumfries and Galloway will receive a maildrop about the new service. We will also promote the service through a social media campaign, banners at our household waste recycling centres and promotional livery on our recycling vehicles.
Applications for the permit can be made online via our website or in person at a customer service centre.
Visit the Garden Waste website.
Download the Garden Waste Collection Service poster
 Budget Consultation Launches
Dumfries and Galloway Council has launched its Budget Consultation 2025/26.
The consultation began yesterday and runs for more than five weeks until midday Friday 6 December.
Central to the budget consultation survey are 48 costed budget savings options with respondents asked to pick which ones they support.
A dedicated webpage has been set up – www.dumgal.gov.uk/budget – where people can find information about where the council gets its money from and where it spends it, then fill in the budget consultation survey.
There is also a video message from council Leader, councillor Gail Macgregor, and details of face-to-face budget consultation drop-in events taking place across the region in November.
In addition, there is a Budget Challenge simulator where people can explore which areas of council spending they want to reduce and which they don’t – to produce a balanced budget.
In common with other local authorities, Dumfries and Galloway Council faces significant financial pressures. A £30 million funding gap for 2025–2028 means it needs to make savings of £10 million a year for the next three years.
The consultation results will be reported at the next meeting of Full Council on Thursday 12 December and inform the decisions taken by councillors in setting spending plans at the council’s annual budget meeting in late February 2025.
|
