A NEW health centre must be included in the plans for a 900 house development in Kelty.

That’s the view of Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Alex Rowley who says the current facility is already "struggling to cope" and cannot accept any more patients.

He said Fife Council is “failing to grasp” the seriousness and significance of this issue and called on them to make developer I&H Brown increase their contribution to community services.

In a letter to the Chief Executive of Fife Council Steve Grimmond, Mr Rowley said: “There are growing concerns being expressed by much of the residents of Kelty that the current medical centre is struggling to cope.

“Kelty Medical Practice is very clear that the current building they operate out of would not be able to cope with such a development and, indeed, they would have to close their doors to any new patients.

“Fife Council as the planning authority and as the authority for ensuring health and wellbeing of local communities has, in my view, a duty to consider these matters and to look at what the solutions should be. The council cannot simply ignore this letter and the concerns of the community of Kelty.

“I would therefore ask that this matter is reviewed by officers of both planning and health and social care, and that consideration be given to the options that may be available to fund a new medical centre in Kelty. This must be done before any planning approval is given.”

In a letter to Mr Rowley in October, Mr Grimmond said that council colleagues have regular liaison meetings with NHS Fife.

He said the health board has carried out strategic assessments for Lochgelly and Kincardine, and a draft business case is being prepared for Kelty.

In recent discussions with NHS Fife, he said the council has been advised if developers build all of the houses at once it would only equate to one additional GP.

Robin Presswood, the council's head of service, said: “This is a long term phased development. The proposed masterplan for Kelty South West is yet to be finalised. It will include an area of land to be safeguarded for healthcare facilities, if they are required in the future.”

Tommy Devlin, development manager at I & H Brown, said: “We met with the staff at Kelty health centre on two occasions as part of our consultation and discussed health care provision alongside development of our proposed masterplan.

“In response to concerns raised by the staff we have provided land for a future health care facility. Through our public consultation process it was made clear that significant support exists for our development which will provide a new school, remediation of heavily undermined area, public open space, new housing with an affordable housing element and industrial/commercial/employment opportunities.

“At these public meetings there were concerns raised and noted about the health care provision. We hope that if there are issues to be addressed by NHS Fife, these can be identified and mitigated timeously to allow this project to commence and provide the benefits to the community.”