A councillor has urged anyone with the capabilities to do so to take legal action against Clackmannanshire Council for their handling of the St Mungo’s RC PS relocation.

The local authority have been holding consultation events over the past two months, including one at the Bowmar Centre last Wednesday.

Parents, teachers and carers are being asked for their views on the permanent relocation of St Mungo’s RC PS to within Alloa Academy, which would be renamed Alloa Campus to allow the two schools to continue having separate identities.

However, despite four possible options being identified, councillors opted to limit the consultation proposals to just the relocation option which Cllr Craig Holden opposed.

At the meeting of the council on March 21, he put forward an amendment in which he asked for the other options – which each included building a new school on a different site – to be considered.

He has now explained that this amendment was prohibited by the council’s legal services, which he says was wrong.

He outlined his case for the amendment at the Bowmar Centre last Wednesday and urged any individuals or groups to take legal action against the council if they saw fit.

Speaking to the Advertiser after the meeting, Cllr Holden said: “The council was prevented from voting on my amendment due to the legal advice that was given that we were in breach of the legislation by consulting on more than one proposal.

“My amendment never sought to consult on more than one proposal, my amendment sought to consult only on one proposal with four different options purely to get feedback from parents and allow them to get their thoughts on what’s best for their children.

“We were denied that opportunity.

“If any interested parties feel that the council’s inability to debate that amendment that I put forward has in any way impacted upon the consultation process, then they are free to take their own legal advice and they may, if they wish, take the council to court and challenge the council on that decision to not debate my amendment.

“I believe the amendment was valid and I thought it was competent and should not have been overruled.

“I can’t do anything about that, but the public can.”

During the Bowmar meeting, Cllr Holden provided attendees with some background regarding the decision to decant the children from St. Mungo’s into Alloa Academy back in 2018.

He admitted that it was him who made the call to initially move the pupils and staff, albeit on the understanding that it was a temporary arrangement.

Cllr Holden further explained that he had been given a quote in the range of £800,000 - £1 million for repair work for the site, but he was told this wouldn’t guarantee that the building would be safe.

He called on the council to reopen investigations into the cause of the damage and do all in their power to fix it.

He added: “I’d also urge them to look very carefully in respect to the flooding that took place in the former school and I still think there is some mileage in the council investigating that and getting to the bottom of things.

“I’m hopeful that if I put a motion like that forward, I’ll get some support for it.

“My understanding is that the school is beyond saving, the building is in a much worse condition than when we decanted it in 2018.

“By identifying the cause of the problem, that may open up options for the council to take legal action against those who are responsible for it.

“I’m not making any aspersions, I’m just saying we’ve lost a school and I think it’s incumbent on us to get to the bottom of that.

“That cannot be allowed to happen again.”

The Advertiser put forward a series of questions to Clackmannanshire Council asking why Mr Holden’s amendment was dismissed.

A question was also asked about what the council would do if the consultation proved that the majority did not want the relocation to go through.

A spokesperson said: “The consultation on permanently relocating St Mungo's RC Primary School opened on April 17th 2024 and will close on Friday 31st May 2025.

“The consultation provides the opportunity for views of all stakeholders to be heard through the process.

“A report on the outcome of the consultation will be brought back to council for a decision early in 2025."