By Charlene Kelly

MORE THAN 1000 new jobs could be created in Fife if multi-million pound plans to expand Kirkcaldy’s John Smith Business Park are approved.

An outline planning permission application has been lodged with Fife Council for a £100 million development which would feature a 60-bed hotel with conference and leisure facilities and a separate sports complex.

Also, a further 20 office blocks will be built, in addition to a £3.5 million office flagship development which is currently under way on the 100-acre site which is located behind Fife Central Retail Park.

Early plans indicate the hotel would be built at the north-west end, near to the existing MGt Cluny Court headquarters. The proposed sports centre would sit to the south-east of the hotel and would offer a cafe, creche, retail and community use.

The blueprint also shows a new housing estate which would be separated from the offices by a wildlife corridor.

Robin Presswood, Fife Council’s business and strategy manager for development services, said investors for the ambitious project have yet to be found but leading London- based commercial property agent Knight Frank has been hired to market it.

He added, “The application is still in its early stages but the master- plan presents an exciting time ahead for Kirkcaldy and for Fife as a whole.

“The project is very much about regenerating the area.

“Central Fife has long relied on the manufacturing industry but we’re lagging behind Dunfermline and Edinburgh in other areas, and this development will offer the missing ingredients and put us on a par with other, better developed towns and cities.”

Councillor John Cameron, Fife Council’s spokesperson for development and planning, said, “This is probably the most important business infrastructure investment in Kirkcaldy for a generation and could create over 1000 jobs within the next 10 years.

“John Smith Business Park is one of Fife’s key strategic development sites and attracting further investment is crucial to the continuing regeneration of central Fife.

“It’s already the home of a highly successful local company, MGt plc, and we are confident the new office building which is currently under construction will further enhance the attractiveness of the park.

“It’s a prestigious location and we will be seeking to work with partners in both the public and private sectors to progress the development of the site over the next few years.”

The application is being supported by Scottish Enterprise Fife and will go before the central area development committee in June.

The John Smith Business Park development is the second £100 million proposal to go before the committee in recent years.

Kingdom Park Ltd was given the green light in June 2003 to transform a 130-acre former open-cast site on the north side of Kirkcaldy into a business and leisure park.

The venture is expected to take a further eight years to complete.