A planning application for 140 homes in the north of Dunfermline has been unanimously refused by councillors.
Members of Fife Council’s central and west Fife planning committee heard developers Omnivale Ltd had refused to contribute money towards a northern link road (NLR) to alleviate traffic in the area.
Planning officer William Shand said the lack of a link road would throw into doubt the council’s entire strategic development plan for the area, which includes proposals for thousands of new houses as part of a major expansion of the town.
“The applicant has not proposed an alternative route for the northern link road or given enough justification as to why they should not deliver it,” he said.
Nottinghamshire-based Omnivale had applied for planning permission in principle to build the properties on a paddock north of Leadside Crescent and east of the A823 at Wellwood.
Council planners had recommended the application be refused.
Mr Shand said the site was only zoned for 100 houses, rather than 140, and a sufficient transport assessment had not been carried out to prove the roads network could accommodate the extra traffic.
He added while it would have had two vehicular accesses as well as pedestrian and cycle links, a lack of routes for pedestrians and cyclists to the north, east and south would have resulted in the site being “a large cul-de-sac which would not be considered to support good design or sustainability”.
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He said: “The NLR provides capacity for the cumulative impact of development and alleviates the impact of development on town centre junctions and the Halbeath Road network in particular.
“There is a risk, if this development did not pay their contributions, that all other development in the Dunfermline area could reasonably ask not to pay or ask for their contributions to be returned.
“Should contributions stop, then development would also need to stop…”
Omnivale said its proposal complied with Scottish planning policy and insisted it was willing to make contributions towards affordable housing and education.
It argued the level of contribution requested for the link road was “not proportionate or specific to the impact of this development”.
