FUNDING has been secured to complete a dementia-friendly housing development in Clacks, but the project will be delayed due to a lack of materials.

Elected members on Clackmannanshire Council's Place Committee last Thursday, September 9, heard an update on the "flagship" Primrose Street housing project in Alloa.

As previously highlighted, councillors were asked to approve a funding mix to plug a £990,000 gap, required to deliver elements critical to the success of the project.

Funding was approved and while officers signalled a three-month delay, a councillor said the local authority has been fortunate to have avoided a significant slip on timescales so far, considering the combined impacts of Brexit and Covid-19.

The vision for the 60 units at the site adjacent to the Speirs Centre is to support an ageing population by providing quality assisted living opportunities in the heart of the town.

This will incorporate dementia friendly features and the homes are being developed with partners Kingdom Housing Association on what was formerly a brownfield site.

Part of the £990,000 required was to be covered by £512,000 from the Scottish Government's Place Based Investment Programme, but spending the money required central approval.

A council officer updating elected representatives at last week's meeting told the virtual Kilncraigs chamber the full use of the funding was given the green light for Primrose Street.

However, he added: "Unfortunately though, I've got to give an update to the committee that the Primrose Street development, since the paper has been written, has succumbed to some of the international challenges to do with construction.

"A restriction in terms of material availability has caused a slight delay.

"At present, it's estimated that, unfortunately, tenants might not be able to move into the accommodation until June 2022."

Documents tabled for the meeting originally put this date to March next year.

In terms of funding for the key elements which will make the design dementia-friendly, the council will also utilise £191,500 from its Housing Revenue Account.

This was highlighted as the "minimum" required to be put in by the council, which already approved a budget of up to £700,000 for this purpose.

More would have been required if the government did not allow the full use of the £512,000.

Committee convener Cllr Craig Holden said: "I do note some of the concerns about the timescales in terms of the delay for Primrose Street.

"I think these things are inevitable; I think we've been very lucky, very fortunate up to this point that a great deal of the work we've done has not been impacted in terms of the impact of Covid-19 and also the impact of Brexit as well and the cost of materials.

"A three-month delay to Primrose Street, whilst unfortunate, it's not a significant delay.

"We have noticed there's been other councils and some of their larger projects have been delayed quite significantly so I think we are being very fortunate in that regard."