The latest bid for a permanent Travellers’ site at Cartmore Industrial Estate in Lochgelly has been thrown out.
Fife Council’s west planning committee refused to change a planning obligation after officers said it would have written off the employment land for good.
Travellers first arrived at the site in 1996, but Fife Council denied planning permission to change the use from industrial land. Following a public inquiry, it was approved subject to conditions in 2006.
One of the conditions was that the site would provide accommodation for the applicants during their lifetime but then revert back to industrial use.
Council planner Scott Simpson said: “At the moment the site can only be used by Mr and Mrs Irvine and it reverts back to employment land when they are no longer able to manage the site or if the site is sold. In essence, the site could become a permanent Gypsy Travellers’ site.”
When the proposal was called in by Scottish Ministers, a reporter concluded that it would be acceptable because there was nowhere else suitable for the applicants.
The report to the committee went on: “In this way the site could provide for the immediate accommodation needs of the applicants while also providing for the site to revert back to its former use.
“Relevant conditions and the planning obligation, that this application seeks to modify, relating to the use of the site were added to the permission and agreed with the applicants.
“Without this planning obligation, the site could have been used as a permanent Travellers’ site.”