NEWLY-APPROVED plans to bring forward the building of 193 houses on the Shepherd Offshore site will help progress a new £180 million education campus at Halbeath.

Fife Council’s decision will allow the company to fund improvements and serviced land to enable the new Fife College, as well as replacements for St Columba’s and Woodmill high schools, to go ahead after a warning that development could stall.

There are also agreements in place for a family pub/restaurant, a care home, properties for assisted living, a nursery and petrol filling station with a drive-thru on other parts of the 40 hectares the company owns.

Tony Aitken, head of planning with Colliers International, said negotiations were well advanced with housebuilders and added: “Our client, Shepherd Offshore, is fully committed to delivering the infrastructure the site needs so it can be fully delivered.

“They’ve taken a real hands-on approach and bringing forward a substantial education campus will be a great asset for Dunfermline and West Fife.”

Newcastle-based Shepherd Offshore bought the former Hyundai site in 2010 and a masterplan for a mixed use development was approved for up to 450 homes, shops, offices, industrial units, warehouses, an hotel, education and a renewable energy plant.

Bellway Homes and Persimmon Homes have already built 225 houses and the company wanted to bring forward phase two, the building of 193 homes.

The existing planning permission did not allow for this until phase one, which includes land for employment, convenience retail, open space and an hotel, was completed.

Colliers had stated that there was a “lack of interest” for these uses, warning that development “will stall” unless the council agreed to change the order in which development could take place.

The change was approved last week.

Shepherd Offshore had submitted a proposal of application notice to reflect the changes to the overall plans and a public consultation event was held in February.

A follow-up was due to be held on Tuesday but was cancelled, with the aim now to make the proposals available online for interested parties to view and comment on.

Mr Aitken said: “Our aim is to get planning permission in principle, the application will likely be submitted in mid-to-late April, and provide a masterplan for the entire site which reflects the uses we now know will go on site.

“That includes the college and a range of uses where Shepherd Offshore has had discussions and operators are lined up, that’s in the northern half of the site.

“There will still be employment land but some other uses that we’ve got operators for are a family pub/restaurant, a care home, properties for assisted living, a nursery and petrol filling station with a drive-thru.

“The college has land to the south of the site and, with planning permission in principle in place, they could then concentrate on the detail of the campus layout and the possible synergy with the two schools.

“The application will bring us up to date from where we were in 2014 and we’re hoping for a decision around September.”

While there was a lack of interest on the commercial side, the college's decision to build a campus there for up to 6,000 students has changed the landscape in more ways than one.

Mr Aitken said: “They’ve had the land for about 18 months now and that’s why we’ve now got these operators as they can see the chance to take advantage of all those potential customers on their doorstep.

“Those kind of discussions have become far more meaningful in the last 18 months.”

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