By Craig Smith

DETAILED plans to transform Glenrothes town centre have been submitted to Fife Council for consideration.

If approved, the plans will revitalise the centre and bring significant benefits to the town’s economy.

Central to the blueprint are Sainsbury’s plans for a foodstore off North Street, with another store on a site north of the Kingdom Shopping Centre.

A further six non-food retail units have also been outlined for the other side of the road as part of the application by the centre’s owners, CIS Ltd.

Those will form part of the Kingdom Centre and will involve the construction of a multi-storey car park at Kingdom Avenue and the demolition of New Glenrothes House.

In a statement to the local authority, a spokesman for the developers said, “When considered together these developments will result in the significant enhancement of the centre’s non-food retail offer, the creation of a new major foodstore for the centre, and a significant uplift in customer attraction to the town centre as a whole.”

The proposed Sainsbury’s site already has outline planning consent for a supermarket.

The supermarket chain hopes to create around 600 new jobs if its plans get the green light.

Another application has been submitted to replace the existing terrace of units in Albany Gate and the vacant Co-op store.

A new three-storey unit has been proposed, which will provide two floors of non-food retail space and one floor of leisure floor space.

Permission is also being sought for the construction of a new multi-storey car park on land beside Glenrothes bus station.

CIS Ltd have also applied to build a further four retail units at the west end of the centre.

The extension will connect to the centre’s Marchmont Gate entrance, and develop the existing surface car park site at the west of the Co-op foodstore and Rothes Halls.

CIS want to maintain overall car parking capacity by adding another level to the existing multi-storey car park.

In a report to be considered today, Keith Winter, head of Fife council development services, said all retail requests will be treated equally.

He said, “While it’s very encouraging we have so much interest in our town centres and retailing in general, it is important that new development is in the right location and on the right scale.”

Further applications are pending for an extension to the Saltire Centre and a new retail development at Queensgate.

CIS claim that approving these applications would “significantly undermine” the town centre and “reduce commercial confidence” in the Kingdom Centre.