PROPOSALS for the permanent relocation of specialist school support services in the Wee County will be debated by councillors tomorrow.

On Thursday, June 23, elected representatives will be asked to approve the permanent relocation of Clackmannanshire Primary and Secondary School Support Services (CSSS) to the former St Bernadette's PS building in Tullibody.

It comes after the closure of the secondary CSSS building on Bedford Place in Alloa, a C-listed property hit by roof and masonry issues – as reported in July 2020.

The secondary service has been temporary housed at St Bernadette's since then while the primary service has been located at an annexe at Park PS prior.

According to council papers, the projected costs to sustain the Alloa building as a school facility are expected to be in excess of £3.5million, excluding project fees.

If the move is approved, both primary and secondary support services, which share a headteacher, will permanently relocate to the former Tullibody school, under one roof, while the Bedford Place property will be actively marketed for sale.

Clackmannanshire Council has been consulting on the issue with documents outlining the responses.

According to the results, around 64 per cent are in favour of the relocation, with 36 per cent against.

The council was also asking people whether they would be in favour of renaming the service to The Orchard and just over 51 per cent of respondents were against.

Responding, a number of people highlighted that The Orchard is already the name of a care home in the town, explaining this would lead to confusion.

Pupils at the St Bernadette's RC PS said their goodbyes to the building in 2019, and re-located to the newly-built Tullibody South Campus along with Abercromby PS.

The £15m school campus replaced what was considered to be two outdated buildings.

A consultation response said: "St Bernadette's had to move out of the building as it was 'unsafe' and now have to share...with Abercromby. Now, all of a sudden the school is safe and about to be used again? What a farce."

There were responses in favour of the move as well and some took the opportunity to praise the CSSS staff for their hard work.

However, many pointed out parking issues around the Tullibody site with concerns over access for emergency services.

One said: "If you move you need to resolve the parking issues. I live locally and parking both sides of the road is ridiculous."

Council papers outlined that the relocation "contributes to the council's sustainability targets by re-using an existing building in Tullibody and avoiding having to extend Park PS".

It added: "There will be savings in relation to rates, energy and property maintenance budgets (including security) when the council is able to dispose of the premises at Bedford Place."