Bid for new educational campus and houses in Aberdour

Plans for a new school and housing estate in Aberdour have been refused by Fife Council.

The proposal, from Felsham PD, was for a new build education campus with associated business units at Hillside School.

The school is a private institution, which accommodates boys aged between 10 and 18 who have social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

It provides 52 week per year residential care for students and a range of activities including sports and other pursuits.

The plans included 125 new build homes to provide capital to build a new school.

Planning permission in principle was previously refused by the council in February 2018 due to a lack of information.

The application was refused again for the same reason and environmental and traffic impacts.

Council planners also noted there is already a surplus of housing in that area, so the additional housing wasn’t required.

A total of 352 objections were submitted including one from Aberdour Community Council.

Objections included having a detrimental impact on the character of the village, the impact that increased traffic would have on the infrastructure and that a new school isn’t needed as the current is sitting at 62 per cent capacity.

Councillors refused the application.