Residents fear that a housing development near a primary school in Alexandria will put schoolchildren at risk and increase the chance of accidents on an already busy road.

West Dunbartonshire Council granted permission to Mr John Ferrier to build six two-bedroom flats and two three-bedroom townhouses on Main Street in Bonhill despite two objections, at this week’s planning committee meeting.

The development, which is just over half a mile away from Bonhill Primary School, will have townhouses facing on to Main Street and flats at the rear.

A new access will be created to a car park for the flats and the townhouses will have their own car parking spaces and enclosed gardens to the rear.

Bonhill and Dalmanoch Community Council and a resident have objected to the development because they say it doesn’t provide enough car parking spaces.

They are worried that residents and visitors to the flats will park on Main Street and this will make the road unsafe, increasing the chance of cars colliding and children running out in front of traffic.

Janice Ross, from Bonhill and Dalmanoch Community Council, told the meeting: “Our big concern is the access leads on to Main Street which is on a slight incline.

“The difficulty with that is that cars from the other flats already park on the incline.

“People coming up the hill have to go on the other side of the road to bypass these cars.

“And they will have problems seeing cars coming.

“This means there’s a higher risk of collision or children running out.

“Bonhill Primary School is just up the road so that’s a main route for schoolchildren and it’s busy between 9am and 3pm.

“There are already in the region of about 80 cars parked in that area.”

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She added that they would also like the entrance into the development to be on Campbell Street to reduce the risk of collisions.

Mr Ferrier told the meeting: “That road is flat, it’s level all the way along.

“We did contact the council about getting access from Campbell Street but they have other plans for that land which belongs to them.

“The parking for residents and visitors is round the back.”

Councillor Marie McNair said: “We’ve looked at the comments from the community council but I think we need to look at granting this permission for the site.”

Councillors unanimously agreed the planning application.