THE Leisure Bowl is to be demolished "as soon as possible" – with the site one of the candidates for a new well-being complex.

Clacks councillors officially declared the now closed leisure centre as surplus to requirements, during a meeting on Monday, May 31.

At the same time, elected members noted progress on plans to replace the facility with a unique well-being complex or campus, and agreed to take forward arrangements for activities in the interim.

Questioning officers at a special meeting of council on the day, Cllr Kenny Earle sought to find out if any sites have already been identified for the proposed complex, which is being developed with input from a wide range of partners.

A senior official told the chamber that four town centre sites in Alloa that could potentially support the development have been identified, but more work is to be done on feasibility studies and there may be further options not yet considered too.

Neither of the four sites were named; however, and chief executive Nikki Bridle added in her response: "I wouldn't want to set hares running with particular sites at this point because I think it would potentially curtail future discussions."

However, Cllr Craig Holden was later happy to highlight one of the options as he moved the recommendations for approval.

He explained that the building, not the land on which the metal-clad structure stands, is being declared surplus to requirements.

The councillor added: "The land may play a very important part in terms of future leisure provision and that's obviously part answering the question that was put earlier [by Cllr Earle] with regards to potential sites.

"I'm not going to give any secrets away here; I think the likelihood is – and I'll say this and I may get criticised for that, but just in the spirit of openness when elected members are asking questions – I think the likelihood is there will be some form of leisure provision and it may well be that the wellbeing campus could be sited on the existing site."

In terms of the future development, council officers said it could be "truly transformational" and could align well with other projects and funding in the Clacks and Stirling City Deal with a range of options to be developed in the coming months.

Consultation will be taken forward with partners from organisations such as sportscotland and NHS Forth Valley, focusing not just on leisure but aspects of health and community wealth building as well.

At the meeting, many – including council leader Cllr Ellen Forson – praised the pace at which the plans are progressing.

She said: "The other thing to notice within the paper is the level of ambition from our partners.

"This is a really exciting project and I was lucky enough to take part in a focused workshop with sportscotland recently. They are really-really excited about where this project is heading."