Significant housing development on outskirts of Kirkcaldy gets go-ahead

Land to the west of Boreland Road near Dysart could soon accommodate 135 new homes after Bridge of Allan-based Allanwater Homes’ bid for planning consent found favour with Fife councillors on Wednesday afternoon.

A quarter of those new properties will be classed as affordable housing, with a mix of bungalows, villas, cottage flats and terraced town houses proposed.

Eleven letters of objection had been received by Fife Council from members of the public concerned about various issues, ranging from noise, traffic and drainage issues to the impact the influx of homes could have on the capacity of local schools and nurseries.

But members of the central and west Fife planning committee decided to set those aside and grant permission after council planners recommended approval of the application.

Councillor Derek Noble had expressed concern about a closed window policy being used for some bedrooms to mitigate noise from the nearby Randolph Industrial Estate and from the railway line running alongside the site - noting that a recent application for homes in Nairn Street had been refused because a closed window solution wasn't possible there.

The policy ultimately gives occupants the option to open their window and accept noisier conditions or keep their windows closed and use mechanical ventilation.

"That is what annoys a lot of people about planning," he noted.

"We can't have one solution for one site, but here we've got an almost similar site, along the same railway line, and we're going to allow a closed window policy?"

However, case officer Bryan Reid said there were "key differences" between this and the Nairn site, namely that the Boreland site is allocated for housing in the FIFEPlan.

The site itself has no significant planning history, but is a stone’s throw away from the major work going on at Kingdom Park where more than 1,000 homes are being built.

However, many of the concerns of objectors’ - such as the impact on drainage and sewerage and the impact of traffic flows on the surrounding road network - were dismissed with that wider development in mind, as planners suggested the cumulative effect of both developments remained acceptable in their eyes.

Capacity issues at the nearby Windmill Campus, which houses Viewforth High School, had been raised by the council’s education service, but financial contributions from the developer towards building work there are to be secured by way of a legal agreement.

And one objector’s fears about the area’s coal mining history were also allayed, with the Coal Authority having no issue after carrying out its own assessment.

A total of 34 of the 135 units proposed will be for affordable housing, comprising of two two-bedroom bungalows, two three-bed terraced villas, four two-bed terraced villas, two five-bedroom terraced villas, 12 two-bed cottage flats and 12 four-bed terraced town houses.

Vehicles will access the new development from Boreland Road, with a second point of access providing an internal looped road system.

A 1.8-metre-high acoustic screen is proposed along the railway embankment bordering the western edge of the site, while the development will also include a large open green space along the western boundary which would include a playpark.

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