Stirling Council’s ruling Labour and Conservative councillors have thrown their weight behind plans to give UNESCO World Heritage Site status to fields suggested as a site for T in the Park.
SNP councillors last week launched a bold bid to bring the music festival to Falleninch Farm after the existing site near Kinross was deemed unsafe due to an underground oil pipeline.
Landowner Andrew Hornall gave his backing to the plan and a motion calling for high-level talks will be debated at a council meeting on February 27.
A 3,000-strong supporters group has since sprung up on Facebook, however, festival organisers DF Concerts insist Stirling is not being considered.
The firm, founded by Geoff Ellis, has persuaded Perth and Kinross Council to overrule the Health and Safety Executive’s warning and rubber stamp plans to again hold the event at the disused Balado Airfield just off the M90 motorway.
Stirling Council leader Johanna Boyd has unveiled details of her ambitious bid to secure UNESCO World Heritage site status for Stirling.
She said: “Our plans will bring real, year-round economic benefits to Stirling and would allow the area to be used for appropriate events. T in the Park is a fantastic festival, but I believe that our approach is rather more suitable than what is being suggested by the SNP.
“Right now we are working on a set of options which will mean that Stirling can offer even more for visitors. These include plans for the Falleninch field events arena, the Gowan Hill, Back Walk and Stirling’s historic old town as well as proposals to enhance our public open space in Kings Park.”
Backing the UNESCO bid, Conservative councillor Neil Benny said: “Stirling has the historical significance to be recognised internationally. The Old Town, King’s Park, Back O Hill, Falleninch field and Gowan Hill make up a historically significant area. In the UK places like Canterbury, Bath, Durham and Edinburgh all make the list today and we need to aspire to that.”
Falleninch Farm owner Andrew Hornall said he “hasn’t been consulted” about the proposals but welcomed a “wider master plan” for the area.
The farmer, whose family has owned the land for fifty years, also underlined his backing for the bid to bring T in the Park to Stirling.
He added: “The T in the Park style of concert I think would work well for a different age group. It is my understanding that the music and arts world is keen to look at Stirling as an alternative venue outside Glasgow and Edinburgh for hosting such events.
“We have been approached already for a concert earlier in the year however it clashes with UK Armed Forces Day.”
A motion entitled ‘T in the Park for Stirling’ has been submitted by SNP councillors Steven Paterson and Jim Thomson.
It calls on councillors to instruct officials to “evaluate how Stirling could accommodate an event of the scale of T in the Park in future, and begin a dialogue with the organisers of the festival to scope out the possibilities of Stirling being the future home of this event.”
The motion will be debated at full council on February 27.