Stanley and District Community Council – October 2018

West Stormont was the name used in medieval times to cover the parishes of Auchtergaven, Kinclaven, Logiealmond, Moneydie, Redgorton (Stanley) and the Murthly portion of Little Dunkeld. West Stormont has been chosen as the most suitably inclusive title for the many communities connected to Taymount and Five Mile Woods today. Working with local people to bring Taymount Wood and Five Mile Wood into Community Ownership

Taymount and Five Mile Woods Project – now West Stormont Woodland Group (WSWG)
1. The Taymount and Five Mile Woods Project has changed its name.
WEST STORMONT WOODLAND GROUP (WSWG) has been chosen as the most inclusive name for the wide range of local communities with a stake in the woods, as per the explanation from West Stormont Historical Society below.

“The medieval jurisdiction of ‘Stormonth’ (Exchequer Rolls 1264) was divided by the Tay into West and East. West Stormont took in the parishes of Auchtergaven, Kinclaven, Logiealmond, Moneydie, Redgorton (Stanley) and the Murthly portion of Little Dunkeld. It was bounded to the south by the Almond.”

2. WSWG has been registered with the Big Lottery which administers the Scottish Land Fund.

3. WSWG will be constituted as a “Community Controlled Body” for the first phase of project development. It will become a legally constituted organisation before it can take ownership of the woods. There are several forms this might take, such as Scottish Incorporated Charitable Organisation (SCIO) or Company Limited by Guarantee (with charitable status).

4. A logo is being designed for the project by Stanley artist, Claire Dalby
5. West Stormont Woodland Group now has a Facebook page – we will get better at it! Look us up!
6. New email address: wswg.ph1@gmail.com

7. Other WSWG Steering Group activities this month:
* Monthly Steering Group Meeting on 17 September
* Attended Dronley Community Woodland’s first AGM following a successful bid to buy their wood
* Advice from a professional forest manager
* Supporter sign-up sheets at West Stormont Historical Society stand at Murthly Gala and at Tayside Orienteers event. Total Supporter numbers now 243. Formal membership scheme coming soon!
* Recruited conservation specialist as new member of Steering Group
* Met with Scottish Land Fund Adviser, Calum Couston. SLF = key funder for woodland purchase.
* Spoke to Spittalfield Community Council meeting 26 September
* Offered to speak to Auchtergaven and Luncarty Community Councils about WSWG – both accepted
* Setting up Sub-groups to address:
* Forestry
* Community and Communications (including Access, Education and Wellbeing)
* Biodiversity
* Funding, Organisation and Local Green Enterprise and Economy (including Climate Change, Carbon and Community Renewables)

8. The Community Engagement Plan is being developed to include:
* Landowner and Neighbour Visits and Survey (starting October) and User surveys (starting soon)
* Flyers and Posters
* Membership scheme
* Autumn Guided Walks – cultural and natural history 11am-12.30pm, Saturday 27 October and Sunday 28 October (more information soon). Winter Guided Walks (January or February 2019)
* Regular Facebook posts
* Press releases
* Community Consultation events in different venues within the West Stormont area (February/March, to be confirmed).

Community Monthly Update – November 2023

November 8, 2023

We are really thrilled to let you know that Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) has approved WSWG’s Revised Wildwood Proposal and Business Plan for Taymount Wood. This is the first big goal achieved in our Community Asset Transfer Process to bring Taymount and Five Mile Woods into community ownership!

Community Monthly Update – October 2023

October 13, 2023

A highlight for the WSWG Project this month has been the timely teaming up of a group of employees from Aviva in Perth with some unexpectedly lovely autumn weather for a day of corporate volunteering. On 2 October, five enthusiastic Aviva colleagues spent the day with WSWG in the middle of Taymount Wood on a range of interesting and very useful tasks, quite a contrast to their usual office based working environment.

Community Monthly Update – September 2023

September 19, 2023

Given the distinctly seasonal change in the weather of late, we thought we would bring our Word of the Month up to the top of our September update. Psithurism: (Noun) The sound of wind in the trees and rustling of leaves, from “psithuros”, the Greek word for whispering. Enjoy your woods this autumn!

Community Monthly Update – August 2023

August 9, 2023

This month we really want to share with you a wonderful event we had – the joint woodland picnic on 22 July with Tayside Woodland Partnerships (TWP). We pitched our gazebos in a lovely grassy glade in Taymount Wood and set out a delicious picnic spread courtesy of Alison’s Kitchen in Blairgowrie – quiches, sausage rolls and cakes galore – on portable tables kindly lent to us by Stanley Village Hall. More food and home-baking was brought by the picnickers themselves. Despite weather forecasts to the contrary, it was a beautiful day with not a drop of rain or drizzle. After lots of great chat and good food, we heard a little about each of our organisations’ respective projects and then took a walk up the main track to King’s Myre Loch.

Community Monthly Update – July 2023

July 14, 2023

First up this month is for us to say a big thank you to a lovely group of young people from Ochil Tower School in Auchterarder who had come on a mini-bus trip to visit Taymount Wood on 21 June … and just did a litter-pick whilst they were there!! What a great example of being good citizens – enjoying the environment and taking care of it together.

Community Monthly Update – June 2023

June 14, 2023

We want to start with a big thank you to all WSWG volunteers who helped in the Wildflower and Mining Bee Rescue Mission this spring. Many times more wildflowers have come through along the various stretches of raked verge than would have been the case had they remained swamped by gorse mulch and, as seen in the photo here, mining bees have successfully emerged where the track surfaces were cleared to help them out too. And of course the cleared sections of track make for more comfortable going again for walkers and dogs. Lots more areas still need attention, and we will keep doing what we can when we can, but thank you again to everyone who helped make a difference for nature this spring.

West Stormont
Woodland Group

Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) SC051682

Join us today to bring Taymount Wood and Five Mile Wood into community ownership

Stanley and District Community Council – October 2018

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