TEMPORARY accommodation in the Dockyard Digs scheme should be allowed to stay for another seven years to house workers on a "nationally-important" project in Rosyth.

That's the view of Capital and Provincial (Rosyth) Limited who want the seven single-storey pods they own at Castle Road, due to be removed by June 30, to remain until the end of March 2028.

They say the 14 housing units will be needed for workers building the five new frigates at Rosyth Dockyard for the Royal Navy, although the same argument failed to work last year when Fife Council ordered them to remove 62 adjacent pods.

A planning statement on the company's behalf said: "There is a continuing requirement for temporary accommodation for itinerant specialist workers to support infrastructure projects at the Port of Rosyth, including the nationally-important construction of five Royal Navy frigates.

"This is compounded by the lack of suitable and available alternative accommodation in the local area, especially since the recent removal of pod accommodation from the site on the opposite side of Castle Road."

The seven pods, and the 62 adjacent pods on the site of the former Forth Families Social Club, were installed in 2014 as temporary accommodation for workers on the Queensferry Crossing and aircraft carrier projects.

Both are now complete.

Last year, the company failed to persuade the council to extend the timescale for the 62 pods.

They had argued that the units should remain in place until the end of 2023, to help house workers building the frigates, but planning officers “remained unconvinced” that the project was of the same national significance to justify keeping the temporary accommodation.

Councillors rejected the company's application in February and, in August, the Fife Planning Review Body agreed that the pods must go.

At the time, Councillor Alice McGarry had said: "Why there is now a need for this temporary accommodation I don’t really know. 

"The overriding national interest has gone back to normal business and we need to move on from here and start to regenerate that area.”

The 62 pods have now gone and the site is vacant.

In the seven remaining pods there are 14 self-contained units, each with a sleeping area for up to two people, a kitchen with hob, microwave, fridge/freezer, washer/dryer, breakfast bar/table, hanging storage space and bathroom with shower and toilet.

Originally to be removed by the end of 2018, as the council deemed they were "not suitable for long-term use", there have already been extensions to the end of 2019 and now the end of June 2021.

The planning statement added: "Experience proves that the existing pod accommodation has been well-managed by an on-site team for almost seven years.

"This would continue and the amenity of surrounding residents protected."