A DEVELOPER who offered £1 for an “eyesore” Dunfermline site has put in a new application on the same plot.

Last year, the Press told you about the ‘pound land’ dispute over Allanwater Developments Ltd’s plans to build a new 60-bed care home, retail unit and 43 homes at the former MFI and Curtis Motors site on Carnock Road.

The firm was granted permission but Fife Council – who don’t own the site – wanted £174,000 to compensate for the “loss of protected employment land”.

The council had actually lowered the figure from £310,000 but Allanwater argued that this would make the scheme “financially unviable”.

Allanwater then wanted to change the terms of their Section 75 obligations – as well as not paying the £174,000, it did not want to stump up £79,200 as an educational contribution or fund the £43,000 upgrade of the playpark at Swallowdrum.

The company said they would only pay a nominal figure of a quid for the land, and that the cash demands would ruin moves to develop the land and bring in 150 new jobs.

It got out of paying the £174,000 after councillors voted in May this year to waive the sum.

Allanwater has now submitted fresh plans which omit the care home and retail unit.

Instead, the new application proposes 43 affordable homes, with 85 parking spaces and associated landscaping, on the northern half of the site.

A supporting statement said, “The identified zoning for economic development has been demonstrated to be unviable and the principle of development of this site has previously been established.

“However, despite marketing the proposals for some significant time there is a clear lack of appetite to fund and construct these speculatively and no end user stepping forward.

“A recent call for sites to meet the need for housing within Fife Council area, raised the potential for this portion of the site to be considered as an opportunity to address those needs.” The properties are expected to be a mix of single-bedrooms to larger family homes, and all parts of the site will be disabled-accessible.