Local residents will now have until 23 April 2024 to raise any formal objections to the proposal.

The new defence aims to protect 87 properties and 700 metres of road from flooding from the Allan Water by increasing the height of the existing flood walls along Allanvale Road and Cornton Road and raising the height of Cornton Road over the section adjacent to Haws Park.

In total, £12m of funding for the scheme will be provided by the Scottish Government as part of the national programme, Funding of Flood Scheme Protections, with the remaining £3m funding from Stirling Council.

Work is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2026 and will last an estimated 12-18 months.

The Bridge of Allan community were consulted on the proposals in November 2023, with the new defence scheme designed to protect against a flood which, statistically, occurs once every 50 years.

The current defences were constructed in the 1970s and 1980s and parts are now considered to be in poor condition and do not provide sufficient flood protection against increasing flood events due to climate change.

Convener of the environment, transport and net zero committee, Councillor Jen Preston, said: “The Bridge of Allan Flood Protection Scheme is a significant infrastructure project that aims to reduce the risks from the Allan Water and help the community with future resilience.

“We know how damaging floods can be in our local communities and the distress it causes to households and businesses. Extreme weather events are becoming more commonplace as a result of climate change and we must become more preventative and less reactive.

“The option we’ve selected for Bridge of Allan maximises the number of properties to be protected, while maintaining the best use of public funds. It will also follow the alignment of the existing flood protection scheme as much as possible, which will minimise disruption to residents and local businesses.”

Stirling Council has written to local residents and drop-in events will also be hosted at Bridge of Allan library on Tuesday 16 April from 2pm-7pm and Thursday 18 April from 9am-1pm.

An online information session will also be held via Microsoft Teams on Wednesday 17 April from 6pm-7pm. Anyone interested in attending the online session is asked to register their details before Monday 15 April by emailing flooding@stirling.gov.uk or by calling a member of the Flood team on 01786 404040.