Multi-million-pound plans to create an open-cast coal mine on the site of a former colliery are set to come before Fife Council.
LRD Ltd plan to extract coal from the site at Comrie, near Oakley, which is recognised as the largest area of post-industrial dereliction in west Fife.
One of the concerns has been environmental issues.
The site measures 161.1 hectares, which is a reduction of 61 hectares from the site area for a previous application for open-cast coaling refused for a lack of information in 1999.
The application site is 2km south-west of Saline and almost 1.2km north of Blairhall.
LRD Ltd, who have a base in west Fife and experience in the coalfields of south Yorkshire, want to create an open-cast mine at the colliery bing area, with phase two focusing on redeveloping the colliery site.
It has been estimated that the second phase would cost around £20 million.
A report compiled by planning officer Angus Dodds recommends approval of the LRD plan subject to conditions.
The company plan to operate an open-cast reclamation in 11 distinct phases over three years.
They propose to have a raw coal stocking area, coal screening unit, screened coal stocking area, weighbridge, vehicle maintenance area, employee car park, canteen, toilet and shower block and fuel storage area.
Much of the land is contaminated and this will be undertaken as part of the development.’Exceptionally complicated’Mr Dodds said, “The former Comrie colliery site is an exceptionally complicated and degraded landscape that suffers from a myriad of environmental problems.
“The current application seeks to remediate the worst of these but, in advance of this, the receipts from the sale of coal in the first year will allow for comprehensive investigations to take place across the despoiled site to establish the extent of the contamination.
“While the applicants have aspirations for the future redevelopment of the site, the focus should be to return the despoiled areas to usable countryside.”
He added, “The first part of the proposed restoration will be the creation of the wetland habitat for the great crested newt colony found on the north-west slope of the bing and in the settlement lagoons.
“The current application is the latest proposal in at least 10 years of attempts to allow for development on the former Comrie colliery site.
“The site is recognised in both the Fife Structure Plan and the emerging draft Dunfermline and west Fife local plan as one of west Fife’s largest areas of post-industrial degradation.
“The current proposals for a short period of open-cast coal extraction are considered to offer an opportunity to allow for the progressive and sensitive exploitation of the existing coal reserves.
“This phased approach should allow for the necessary and expensive work of site investigation and remediation to be completed within a controlled timescale.”
Mr Dodds said, “A series of suspensive conditions will allow the council to ensure that all necessary works are completed up front, and to its satisfaction before sanctioning any further extraction in the overall programme of works.
“It is recommended that this application be approved, subject to a series of conditions and to the signing of a section 75 legal agreement.”
The matter will be discussed with Fife Council in due course.