Queens Hotel to be turned into flats and shops

Plans to redevelop the class C listed building in Church Street were first submitted in 2008 but the scheme never got off the ground.

Now Fife Council have approved amended plans from hotel owner Jane Robertson that will bring 22 flats and four shops to the site.

A change of use has been allowed which will see the Victorian facade of the building kept and the hotel, at 8-12 Church Street, altered to form two shop or office units on the ground floor and five flats over the two floors above.

The neighbouring building at 2-6 Church Street will be demolished to make way for two shops on the ground floor and six flats on the two floors above.

And a new build of 11 flats, across three storeys, will be built in the rear garden.

There were two objections with concerns raised about the loss of employment and the detrimental impact on road safety and the conservation area.

One of the local residents who opposed the plans said: "The application also intends to destroy the garden behind 2-6 Church Street and to build a large block of flats there.

"The garden area is of historic and cultural significance and should be tied to the existing building for the benefit of residents now and in the future."

A report by council officers said the application met all the development plan requirements and was acceptable.

It added: "The loss of the hotel will undoubtedly have an impact on employment, however, the overall development also proposes the creation of four commercial units which too will create jobs."

Conservation and listed building consents were granted in 2008 and planning approval followed in 2010, subject to a legal agreement.

However, the permission lapsed in 2014 when agreement was not reached.

The plans were amended and re-submitted in August 2015 and approved last month.

A statement from Mrs Robertson's agents, Oliver and Robb, said: The client brief has evolved in light of the many challenges of running a hotel in the face of stiff competition from the many budget hotels which have been developed in recent years, many of which are located on the M90 corridor attracting visitors and tourists due to their convenient location."

Local councillor Alice McGarry said: "We've got great plans to improve the square so it's unfortunate it's happening at this time. It would have been good to see some kind of hotel kept as there's not another one in the town.

"The Queens Hotel is an attractive building and at one time it used to be the place to go in Inverkeithing.

"It could have been a really good hotel if investment had gone into it, as there's a lot of land at the back, and with its proximity to Edinburgh you'd think it could have worked.

"But times change and although the hotel part is going to be lost, anything that makes the building a bit more attractive is welcome and the building they're going to demolish is out of keeping with the area anyway."

In September, the council confirmed that £430,000 of funding was in place to help improve Inverkeithing.

And efforts are being made to secure more than £3 million from a range of sources to help deliver a varied programme of town centre regeneration.