CONSTRUCTION can go ahead on eight houses for social rent in the Hillfoots after plans were approved at Clackmannanshire Council.

Kingdom Housing Association's plans for the small development at Park Street in Tillicoultry have been given the green light by the local authority's planning department.

According to the design statement, the houses near to Tillicoultry Medical Practice represent "a unique opportunity to provide much needed new homes and to provide a cohesive and unique new development on a partial brownfield neighbourhood as a whole".

Indeed, the site contains three vacant single-storey dwellings of a pre-fabricated build, dating from the 1970s.

On the eastern side there is overgrown and disused land which includes "run-down sheds and pigeon lofts".

The eight houses will all be two storey, one will be detached with two semi-detached blocks and a terrace block of three houses.

A total of 11 parking spaces will be provided, one for each house and three for visitors.

The development has been approved with a number of conditions in the interests of visual and residential amenity among other things.

Six objections were lodged against the plans, including one from Tillicoultry Medical Practice.

Concerns were raised over a "significant loss of daylight to properties" at Park Street and at Stoneyacre, an adjacent street along with a concern over impact on privacy.

The planning department said in its report that houses would be 22.5 metre and 14.5m from the closes Part Street neighbour and 26m from houses at Stoneyacre.

"There are no significant windows on any elevation of the proposed dwellings either overlooking existing properties or within a distance where privacy would be compromised," the report read.

"There would be no significant impact on the privacy enjoyed by any existing property."

In terms of loss of daylight, walls of the proposed buildings facing existing properties would not be a straight gable with the roofline pitched.

One objector said the development would have a detrimental impact on the accessibility of the adjacent health centre for patients and staff.

The report said there was no evidence to support this view.

The roads and transportation section had no objections and concerns were addressed through conditions.

SEPA has raised no concerns over possible flooding.