PLANS to build 160 new homes on agricultural land in Cairneyhill have been submitted to Fife Council.

Avant Homes has already constructed 100 houses off Pitdinnie Road and want to get started on phase two to the west, although the community council have said they will object.

A planning statement promised “a high-quality mix of new housing” with 25 per cent affordable homes on the 10.5-hectare site.

It’s a joint application with Robert Forrester, of Forrester Park Golf Resort, with future proposals for an expansion there too.

Their planning statement said: “Land to the north of the application site is also allocated within the adopted FIFEPlan, for leisure and community facilities.

“This will form a future expansion of the Forrester Park Golf Resort.”

Phase one of Avant’s housebuilding plans, to the east, was approved in February 2017 and is almost complete.

In phase two, they propose “pleasant tree-lined avenues”, more footpaths and better links for pedestrians and cyclists, including safer routes to school, a central area of open space and a “robust” drainage infrastructure and SUDS basin to address flooding issues.

There will be two “arrival squares”, multi-functional areas incorporating parking, shared surface, street planting and footpath connections.

Private homes would range from three- to five-bedroom terrace, semi-detached and detached homes.

Affordable homes would consist of terrace, semi-detached, cottage flats, bungalows and detached homes, varying in size from two- to five-bedroom.

The main access would be from the west, with a new roundabout built on the D13 (Oakley road).

The entrance would “incorporate a public art feature” and there would be “extensive” new tree, landscape and wet meadow planting.

The company said that two online public consultation events held last year demonstrated “support for the housing development” as it would “create more jobs and homes within the community”.

However, concerns were raised about more traffic, road safety issues and the number of road accidents on the “dangerous” Oakley Road, which has a 60mph speed limit.

Other issues were flooding and pressure on local services, loss of agricultural land and the impact on wildlife. Avant said the points raised had helped “further develop” their plans. The developer proposes to pay the council £364,200 for transport improvements in the area and added: “The site is well-located in terms of existing walking routes and local amenities, schools and public transport services in compliance with local, regional and national policy objectives.

“It is predicted that the proposed development will not have a detrimental impact on the operational capacity or road safety of the surrounding road network.”

Proposals for the land stretch back to 2009 when Mr Forrester – who helped establish Forrester Park Golf Resort – first outlined an ambitious £65 million plan and a partnership with Avant Homes.

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.