Plans for new care village in Methil revealed

Fife Council’s new care village will see a two-storey 36-bed residential care home and day care centre with a nursery built on the site of the former Kirkland High School.

It will also provide a 10-place day services facility with associated support rooms, community drop in facility to serve the village and the community as a whole, as well as a 39 place nursery facility and external play area.

The site has been lying empty since 2016 when the old high school was demolished.

It will also boast a new playground, gardens, landscape open space and care housing bungalows.

The village will be carbon friendly, with solar roof panels and a link to the district heating scheme.

The site was declared surplus land by the council after the completion of the new Levenmouth Academy.

Co-location of facilities with the care home will allow for a new approach to be taken to the planning of shared outdoor spaces which cannot be facilitated in the existing stand-alone nurseries. These spaces will complement the planned shared spaces within the care village.

In the design statement, Fife Council wrote: “As a replacement to the ageing Methilhaven home, it will provide a variety of care services to the local community on one site, including residential care, community drop-in, day services, nursery, and extra care housing.”

Council spokesperson for Health and Social Care and local Labour Cllr David Graham said: “The proposed new care village in Methil is a fantastic example of services working together to invest in our local community.

“The planning application submission is only the first part of the development process and is quite a significant step forward for us in taking forward this groundbreaking development which is the first of it’s type in the country.

“The Health and Social Care Partnership will continue to engage and speak to the residents in the surrounding area providing them with updates as the proposal progresses into the forthcoming stages.”