A £550,000 regeneration project for Alva will be taken forward, with lessons to be learnt from a similar scheme in Clackmannan.

It was a “long time coming” according to Clackmannanshire North’s SNP Councillor Donald Balsillie, who seconded the proposals at the Place Committee’s meeting last Thursday, September 13.

The regeneration scheme will be driven forward by three key projects: traffic management, parking and streetscape enhancements for Stirling Street; a roadwork scheme at Alva Primary School and CAP; as well as a more generic streetscape enhancement plan for the town in general.

As the initiatives progress, there will be various consultations with local stakeholders at a number of stages, civil servants reaffirmed in the chamber at Kilncraigs on the day.

The council has already been working with Alva Community Council and traders, but Labour group leader and Clacks North wards councillor Dave Clark sought assurances that other groups like the church, pensioners and traders’ association would be involved.

It appeared the paper was bittersweet for the representative, who said he is happy to support it with a small caveat.

He had a number of issues, including the fact that generic plans do not address the issue of vacant premises on the town’s shopping strip, adding he recently counted 17 derelicts on Stirling Street.

The councillor said the last time Alva received an upgrade was in the 1980s and since then, the town has “been left to dereliction”.

He also said parking near the shops is a “major complaint”, as highlighted by the Advertiser previously, and that the public are “terrified to cross the road” in the town due to issues with traffic, adding he expects somebody to be “knocked down” without improvements in place.

Taking his complaints further, the Labour leader accused the administration of not showing the same level of commitment to Alva compared to Clackmannan, where the regeneration project received around £2.2million in support from the council, with further £3.1m from the Scottish Government.

He also called on officers to explore further funding streams. The paper tabled did mention around £200,000 for two of the schemes is anticipated to be coming from Sustrans.

SNP committee chair Cllr Craig Holden highlighted a report will be coming to council on the derelict premises.

Conservative Cllr Martha Benny, also of the North Ward, told Cllr Clark that a meeting in the town, from which he was absent, took place the night before with discussions on the issues he raised.

When Conservative leader Cllr Bill Mason questioned officers, they promised “extensive consultation” on plans as they develop, adding: “We are learning a lot from the Clackmannan project.”

He later advocated for a central design brief to go out to residents for consultation ahead of the works being approved.

Councillors then unanimously gave the nod to take the regeneration projects forward, Cllr Donald Balsillie earlier highlighting the council should take the time to get it right.