A planning application for a new housing estate which was previously rejected by Fife Council has been granted by the Scottish Government on appeal.
The Stuart Milne Group’s plan for a new 200-home development to the west of Cairneyhill Road, between Crossford and Cairneyhill, was turned down by Fife Council in September 2018 on the grounds that the application site lay outwith any defined settlement boundary, was not allocated for housing and was in the countryside.
The application was also refused on the grounds of flooding risk, with council planners taking into consideration 139 letters of objection about various issues.
However, Rob Huntley, the Scottish Government Reporter dealing with the appeal, has now overturned that decision and approved the plans.
Mr Huntley granted permission for the application, stating that as long as the developers arranged with the council to provide affordable housing provision in the site, and financial contributions towards primary and secondary education capacity, then there was no reason for the development not to be allowed.
Conditions of consent stress no development will be permitted until an “enforceable mechanism” has been put in place to secure the provision of a surface water outfall to the Torry Burn, and that no more than 49 houses shall be occupied until a number of highway and transport improvements have been carried out. These include junction upgrades, new bus stops, pedestrian and cycle links and a second vehicle access to the site.