A former Fife maternity hospital could soon be given a new lease of life if plans to redevelop the site are taken forward.
Members of the public will get the chance to see AEL Developments Limited and NHS Fife’s proposals for Kirkcaldy’s Forth Park Hospital at an exhibition later this week ahead of a formal planning application being lodged later this year.
The prospective developers have tabled a Proposal of Application Notice for a residential development of around 59 new homes, as well as vehicular access, open space and landscaping on the prominent site on Bennochy Road.
The hospital itself stopped admitting expectant mothers on January 9 2012 when services switched to the town’s Victoria Hospital, and the building has lain vacant since all medical and office equipment were cleared out not long afterwards.
A number of similar housing plans have been tabled in recent years but none came to fruition, although AEL Developments Limited say they intend to submit an application for full planning permission in around three months time.
The public exhibition will take place at The Steadings in Bennochy Road on Thursday from 2-8pm, when members of the project team will be on hand to discuss their vision for the site.
John MacCallum, planning consultant with JM Planning Services, said copies of the proposal have been sent to Kirkcaldy West Community Council and the three councillors who represent Kirkcaldy Central.
“Fife Council has been contacted to determine if there are other local community groups that might have an interest in the proposed development and information is still awaited at this time,” he said.
“If any relevant interest group requires to be consulted, they will be similarly contacted of the proposed development in due course.”
Planning permission in principle was granted back in 2014 for a residential development of 69 homes on the site which would have included the conversion of the historic mansion house and associated stables, but that has since lapsed.
The B-listed mansion house, which was built in around 1860, is in a very poor state of repair and is included on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland.
