Dispute holding up development of derelict Fife hotel

Keith Punler, the director of Kapital Residential Ltd, was granted permission in 2015 to transform the hotel into 45 sheltered housing apartments.

However, five years later, concerns remain about the length of time it is taking to carry out the work.

But this week Mr Punler told the Mail that a dispute over drainage at the hotel was holding up development.

He said the two parties are disputing drainage discharges from the site, with Scottish Water wishing to treat it as a complete new build, rather than taking into account its former use.

“I understand that this is a common issue and has happened elsewhere,” Mr Punler said, “but I don’t know why it’s happening now.

“We were expecting to be on site now. We’re excited by the project and it’s something we want to get started.

“We want to resolve this issue and then we can give an update. We need to satisfy Scottish Water and then find a way forward.”

Peter Aitken, chair of Largo Community Council, said the reasons were taken “with a pinch of salt” by members of the group.

“We believe it is going to happen, sooner rather than later,” he said.

“It has got to happen this year. It is looking hopeful. It’s getting closer.”

Councillor Colin Davidson said he was “disappointed” that this was the first time he had heard of the dispute.

“If there is anything we – Fife Council, the community – can do to help, I hope he will come to us.

“We need to be kept informed about this. We need to be in the loop, because something needs to be done.”

A Scottish Water spokeswoman said: “Scottish Water does not accept additional volumes of surface water to combined sewers from development sites. This is vital in order to avoid adding to the risk of sewer flooding and to ensure our drainage networks are able to continue serving customers and protecting the local environment on a sustainable basis.

“We recognise this can present challenges for some development sites. We are working closely with this developer in Lundin Links to find appropriate solutions to manage additional surface water created with the construction of this new, larger development in a sustainable way and safeguard our existing customers.”