Takeaway bid for empty Kirkcaldy High Street shop is pulled

The Money Shop was set to become a hot food takeaway, but the company behind the plans, Sava Estates, has withdrawn its planning application to Fife Council.

The building at 162-164 High Street, next to M&S, has sat empty since 2019 when the company was bought by Ramsdens in a £1.5m deal, and moved to its shop further along the street.

Sava Estates first lodged its application in April 2023. The Kirkcaldy-based company proposed turning it into a hot food takeaway, and bring the ground floor of the three-storey building back into use. It also withdrew its application for listed building consent to carry out internal alterations.

A planning statement, submitted as part of the original application, said: “The proposed development will see this vacant property transformed into a hot food takeaway. Access will continue to be via the existing doorway and will open up into the main customer area.”

It said the takeaway would “introduce a new eating outlet into the area and a vacant unit re-cycled which otherwise may have remained vacant for some time and become a disamenity in the streetscape.”

The application withdrawal was formally confirmed this week on Fife Council’s planning portal.