PLANS have been submitted to build 100 homes on farmland to the north and east of Cairneyhill.

Avant Homes want to develop a 13-hectare site south of Pitdinnie Farm which would include a serviced site for a new community hall and a multi-use games area.

A quarter of the properties would be affordable homes and they’ve promised residents they’ll bring in road safety and flood prevention measures.

At public meetings in November there were concerns about the proposed development but Avant said that, ultimately, the argument was between the village and Fife Council.

Their planning statement said, “The feedback generally received from the community at the exhibitions was that Cairneyhill cannot accommodate the further growth proposed.

“However, almost all feedback identified that the proposed infrastructure improvements would be welcomed and would provide betterment for Cairneyhill.

“The caveat remains that this should be delivered but not as a result of additional housing.

“Given that the rationale for further development in Cairneyhill is the council’s assessment of housing need and demand which identifies unmet need for further housing in the Dunfermline and West Fife housing market area, it is difficult to agree to the community’s wish for development to be restrained in Cairneyhill.” It’s the latest development since Robert Forrester – who helped establish Forrester Park Golf Resort – first outlined an ambitious £65million plan in 2009.

At the time, he wanted to build a luxury five-star hotel, new nine-hole golf course, 140 houses, fishing loch, holiday chalets and an equestrian centre on land next to Pitdinnie.

It didn’t get past the planning stage but the idea was reworked with the first phase set to be the housing element.

Avant said they listened to community concerns before scaling down the size of their proposals to 100 homes, they said it was a “modest expansion” of less than 10 per cent given that the number of houses in Cairneyhill is 1012.

The proposals include a new access from an upgraded Pitdinnie Road – opposite the entrance to Forrester Park – with a new path along the west side of the road and traffic signals at the junction with Main Street.

The development would form an “attractive gateway” and there would also be new paths and routes for pedestrians and cyclists, an open space and an “amenity buffer” between existing and new homes, Avant have proposed flood attenuation measures at Torry Burn and Rushy End Burn and said development would support 90 jobs during construction.

They said that approval would help Fife Council meets its housing land requirements and that work on the new homes could start in 2016 and be complete by 2019.

The Stirling-based developer added that the site was part of a larger area which was in the proposed Fife Plan and had been classed as capable of taking up to 250 new homes.

There are already objections to the plan with concerns about flooding, the loss of “prime agricultural land”, the impact on the environment and wildlife and increased traffic.

Avant’s own statement says that 17 hectares of prime quality agricultural land has been lost to housebuilding in Cairneyhill since 1986 but that there are no brownfield sites available and Fife Council needs more land for housing.

They said that while the proposed development itself was not classed as a flood risk, the measures would help address problems elsewhere in the village.

They added that there was “sufficient capacity” at Cairneyhill Primary School and existing utilities could cope.

PLANS have been submitted to build 100 homes on farmland to the north and east of Cairneyhill.

Avant Homes want to develop a 13-hectare site south of Pitdinnie Farm which would include a serviced site for a new community hall and a multi-use games area.

A quarter of the properties would be affordable homes and they’ve promised residents they’ll bring in road safety and flood prevention measures.

At public meetings in November there were concerns about the proposed development but Avant said that, ultimately, the argument was between the village and Fife Council.

Their planning statement said, “The feedback generally received from the community at the exhibitions was that Cairneyhill cannot accommodate the further growth proposed.

“However, almost all feedback identified that the proposed infrastructure improvements would be welcomed and would provide betterment for Cairneyhill.

“The caveat remains that this should be delivered but not as a result of additional housing.

“Given that the rationale for further development in Cairneyhill is the council’s assessment of housing need and demand which identifies unmet need for further housing in the Dunfermline and West Fife housing market area, it is difficult to agree to the community’s wish for development to be restrained in Cairneyhill.” It’s the latest development since Robert Forrester – who helped establish Forrester Park Golf Resort – first outlined an ambitious £65million plan in 2009.

At the time, he wanted to build a luxury five-star hotel, new nine-hole golf course, 140 houses, fishing loch, holiday chalets and an equestrian centre on land next to Pitdinnie.

It didn’t get past the planning stage but the idea was reworked with the first phase set to be the housing element.

Avant said they listened to community concerns before scaling down the size of their proposals to 100 homes, they said it was a “modest expansion” of less than 10 per cent given that the number of houses in Cairneyhill is 1012.

The proposals include a new access from an upgraded Pitdinnie Road – opposite the entrance to Forrester Park – with a new path along the west side of the road and traffic signals at the junction with Main Street.

The development would form an “attractive gateway” and there would also be new paths and routes for pedestrians and cyclists, an open space and an “amenity buffer” between existing and new homes, Avant have proposed flood attenuation measures at Torry Burn and Rushy End Burn and said development would support 90 jobs during construction.

They said that approval would help Fife Council meets its housing land requirements and that work on the new homes could start in 2016 and be complete by 2019.

The Stirling-based developer added that the site was part of a larger area which was in the proposed Fife Plan and had been classed as capable of taking up to 250 new homes.

There are already objections to the plan with concerns about flooding, the loss of “prime agricultural land”, the impact on the environment and wildlife and increased traffic.

Avant’s own statement says that 17 hectares of prime quality agricultural land has been lost to housebuilding in Cairneyhill since 1986 but that there are no brownfield sites available and Fife Council needs more land for housing.

They said that while the proposed development itself was not classed as a flood risk, the measures would help address problems elsewhere in the village.

They added that there was “sufficient capacity” at Cairneyhill Primary School and existing utilities could cope.