Major development plans revealed for former Fife police station

The site at Napier Road could now be transformed with new homes and commercial units.

Town-based developer, Lomond Homes, has submitted a planning application to Fife Council for permission to begin work.

It proposes 20 homes, a nursery, four offices and a cafe on the site which was, for decades, the town’s main police station.

The development would include four affordable homes plus parking for residents and businesses.

In a supporting statement, the company said the proposal “is designed to make a positive contribution to the regeneration of the town centre, with a sustainable mixed-use development providing places for people to live, learn, work and play.”

The site has been vacant since the former police station closed its doors in 2015.

The move was not without controversy given its long-established presence in the town centre.

In 1954 as the town was built, two police officers lived and worked out of two houses in Well Road.

Before then policing had come under the jurisdiction of Markinch officers.

A move to Rimbleton Avenue followed in 1959 and was meant to be temporary but actually lasted until 1971. They then moved to South Street before relocating to the purpose built Napier Road station in 1975.

While the stark building wasn’t missed, it was home to officers for five decades, and its demolition marked the end of an era.

Officers relocated to the former Fife HQ in Detroit Road.

The Napier Road base was boarded up and in 2016 it was sold to an un-named developer.

Fife Council took control of the site and demolished the building with a view to turning the site into a car park for its employees.

In 2019, the 3.6-acre site was put up for sale for residential and commercial development.

Lomond Homes’ planning statement said the commercial building “has been carefully designed to offer great flexibility for future alterations to suit the changing needs of such buildings.”

It proposes a nursery on the ground floor, and a cafe positioned closest to the nearby town centre.

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