STATUTORY consultation over the permanent closure of an Alloa nursery is anticipated to begin in the near future.

The consultation over ABC Nursery, which has been facing roof problems and which did not re-open in August for education, is to go ahead online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Council documents tabled for a meeting of all elected representatives last Thursday, February 11, said the proposed timeline for consultation would be January to March this year.

In an update to the full meeting of elected representatives, a council officer told the virtual Kilncraigs chamber: "At the time of writing this paper it was fully anticipated that the statutory consultation for ABC Nursery would run from January to March 2021.

"However, this consultation exercise has not yet begun. This is because officers are required to develop an online consultation process to enable a statutorily compliant consultation to be conducted under the current Covid restrictions.

"Work is ongoing to design and get that implemented and as soon as that's ready we will be beginning the consultation."

As previously reported, the nursery has been blighted by roof issues.

Council documents previously revealed how there had been nine separate call outs to the school over reports of water pouring in during 2019.

Two surveys were commissioned for the roof, concluding that "the roofing fabric required immediate attention to stabilise the structure".

Immediate works were agreed and completed in November that year.

An option to repair and refurbish the building had been under consideration at the local authority.

In September last year, after the nursery did not re-open in August, it was revealed that the repair bill "would result in unbudgeted financial cost in the region of £1.5million"

Councillor Graham Lindsay, spokesman for education, said at the meeting last week: "All children previously enrolled at ABC were provided full time places at other ELC [early learning and childcare] establishments and partner providers without any issue at all."