Housing plans set to bring former Fife hotel back into use
A former Fife hotel, once earmarked as a hostel for the homeless, is set for a new lease of life as a residential development.
The Greenside Hotel in Leslie was the subject of a planning application to turn the C-listed building into five flats and build five homes on its High Street site.
Fife Council has now given the green light to the bid from its Perth-based owners, homeless social enterprise,Green Pastures CBS Limited.
It comes three years after the business bought the hotel with a view to creating a community drop-in centre with supported housing for the homeless. It secured planning permission to provide services for people with drug, alcohol and mental health issues, and while some services got off the ground, it failed to secure local support.
A serious flood also ended plans to create a hostel run by a separate group.
In a supporting statement, submitted as part of its application, Green Pastures said it had explored alternative uses but “no demand has been identified.”
Its plans, it said, “regenerated the disused building” and will also remove the “unsightly” flat-roof rear extension - “and so enhancing the character of the area.”
The Greenside has been part of the town’s fabric for generations - it is a key part of its conservation area - and was once a thriving hotel; one which also hosted and promoted live music under Reagan Gallagher’s tenure at the helm, which featured a number of established bands such as indie legends, The Wedding Present, and Scottish group Glasvegas, and also staged its own all-day festival, Gig In The Car Park.
The applicant said: “The redevelopment proposal will convert the vacant former hotel to five flats and create five new-build dwellings in the grounds of high, desirable quality aiming to improve the character of the conservation area and meet Scotland’s requirement for efficient housing.
“The architectural aim is to create a site-specific solution with a design of local distinctiveness and to be of appropriate density, layout and scale.
"The proposal is a considered and sensitive response to the existing urban patterns and the established historical context.”