The local authority proposes 24 new build flats at 219-245 Blackness Road to replace the 26 properties which made up a tenement block there.

The original tenement was demolished in 2021 after a compulsory purchase order (CPO) was granted in 2019.

Plans to build 24 apartments in its place were given the green light in February 2022 but work has yet to commence. The new application extends the time for work to begin.

The new homes will be made up of 18 two-bedroom flats and six one-bedroom flats that will be wheelchair-accessible.

In a design statement, the council wrote: “The stepped frontage also came about as a response to the siting of the block on Blackness Road itself and its place in the streetscape. The existing gable end was very dominant on axis with the eastern approach up Blackness Road. The response to step the frontage back gave the opportunity for a more modelled appearance as the block emerges on approach from the east.”

The decision to raze the Blackness Road tenement block – instead of repairing the decaying staircases – proved to be controversial after it was revealed some tenants living in the blocks were not consulted.

Council officials claimed a majority of residents backed the plans but a freedom of information request subsequently revealed six private landlords who do not live there had been counted as “residents”.

Before that, former housing convener Jimmy Black, who led calls for the local authority to reconsider its decision, had argued that the cost of repairing the stairwells, which has been put at between £880,000 and £1.2m, is preferable and cheaper than spending more to demolish the tenements down and rebuild on the site.