West Dunbartonshire Council has sold a site at Auchentoshan Estate for a price of £225,000 plus VAT. The site was home to a day care centre until it closed in 2009 and has lain empty since the building was demolished.

Developer Brian Kilgour is proposing, subject to planning permission, to develop the site for social housing, with a mix of new build detached, semi-detached and terraced homes.

Councillors at last week’s Infrastructure, Regeneration and Economic Development committee were told that buyers had been secured for a number of unused sites for a total of £1 million.

Bus hire company Torwood Estates Ltd/Carrs of Loch Lomond will purchase an adjacent block to their existing premises in Lomond Industrial Estate, Alexandria, at a cost of £170,000 plus VAT. The company is a well-established firm and a significant employer in the area.

In addition, property at 102 Main Street in Alexandria, which was formerly a dentist but has lain empty for a number of years, will be sold for commercial use for £43,101 plus vat; while a light industrial unit will be created at Levenside Road in Vale of Leven Industrial Estate after it attracted an offer of £51,789 plus vat.

Councillor David McBride, convener of Infrastructure, Regeneration and Economic Development, said: “Many of these sites have been unused for a number of years and in some cases have attracted vandalism or anti-social behaviour. I’m pleased that these disposals will not only bring the sites back in productive use for the benefit of our communities, but also generate a capital receipt of almost £1m for the council.”

Councillor Lawrence O’Neill, vice convener of Infrastructure, Regeneration and Economic Development, added: “These sales are fantastic news for the Council and our communities. It is particularly pleasing that developers see so much potential in buying and running businesses in West Dunbartonshire. Thanks must go to officers who have worked hard to successfully market these sites.