PLANS to join two proposed housing sites together at Lynebank Hospital and South Fod Farm in Dunfermline have been approved by Fife Council.

There will be 200 houses, instead of the originally intended 199, built on the two parcels of land and key changes include amendments to the internal road and footpath network, with two cul-de-sacs joining to make one continuous road.

Landscaping designs have also been changed so that a pond will be located further away from houses and, in its place, there will now be a children’s play area.

NHS Fife have teamed up with BDW Trading Ltd – part of Barratt Homes – to develop the area to the south of Lynebank Hospital.

The site has been cleared to enable housebuilding, with two-, three- and four-bedroom homes and cottage flats proposed.

Planning permission for both sites, which are adjacent, was granted in March.

The decision to develop South Fod Farm was welcomed by Police Scotland as the old barns and outbuildings were a target for vandals and had been repeatedly set on fire.

Over a 12 month period, together with nearby Calais Muir Woods, there were 14 deliberate fires in the area and the force received 86 calls about youths causing trouble at the derelict site.

Looking at the most recent application, Fife Council decided additional financial contributions for education were due given the looming capacity issues at Woodmill High School and Carnegie Primary School.

The plan was approved subject to the conditions of a legal agreement that state that an additional £13,360 will be given in contribution for education and £5,100 for strategic transport interventions.

BDW Trading Ltd had already agreed to pay £513,870 to help fund new classrooms as the development will create a capacity risk at local primary schools.

The new homes will be a stone’s throw from Carnegie Primary but families buying there won’t be able to send their kids to this school as it’s already full and can’t be extended any more.

They’re likely to be in the catchment area for Touch Primary and the money will go towards funding a three-classroom, £1.5 million extension there.

There was considerable opposition to the plans back in March with 49 letters of objection, including one from Touch and Garvock Community Council and one containing a petition with 90 signatures that requested that the farm track be retained for pedestrians and cyclists and “limited vehicular traffic”.

Among the concerns were additional noise, pollution, traffic and congestion for existing residents, as well as loss of privacy, views, open space, trees and the impact on property values.