A SMALL housing development north of Townhill could move nearer to completion after a wait of almost 30 years.

Outline planning permission to build on land at Lilliehill, off Main Street, was first granted in 1996 but the scheme didn't progress.

Separate proposals for four houses were approved by Fife Council in 2008 – with Townhill Community Council happy to see the "untidy derelict land" brought into productive use – and some of the work went ahead.

However, one of the plots to the north of Lilliehill House remained undeveloped and a new application pertaining to it has now gone in to the local authority.

Irvine Mitchell is seeking consent for a change of use for the land, which is just outside the village, to allow for a temporary caravan on site for up to two years.

His application said that would enable a self-build house to be erected there, which he pointed out had been permitted under the 2008 application, with a double garage and parking for four cars.

The application has still to be determined although correspondence from the council said there was no current planning permission for a house on the site.