Fife Council affordable homes at old Blacklaw Primary School

It closed almost 20 years ago and a commencement of development notice to Fife Council confirmed that the project got underway in Dunfermline on Monday.

A partnership agreement will see Robertson Homes, based in Stirling, build the 85 affordable homes and then sell them to the local authority for social rented housing.

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The school, which was to the north of Whitelaw Road, closed and was then demolished in 2005.

Building work on the old Blacklaw Primary School site in Dunfermline is now underway. (Image: Fife Council)

There were 30 homes built on the northern part of the site in 2013, Melrose Crescent and Lunn Gardens were named after Dunfermline Athletic's Scottish Cup-winning heroes of 1961, Harry Melrose and John Lunn. 

Mr Melrose told the Press at the time: "When I first took the phone call, I put the phone down as I thought they were taking the mickey.

"It was only when I was called again five minutes later to be told it wasn't a joke!"

However there was little progress on the remainder of the land.

The plot became overgrown and seemingly forgotten, with the council explaining that housing expansion in Dunfermline had "created capacity issues" in local schools and held up the redevelopment of the former school site.

Robertson Homes obtained planning permission in April 2022.

There were four objections.

The development of the 2.6 hectare site will consist of 45 semi-detached houses, 26 terraced houses, nine semi-detached bungalows and five three-storey town houses.

The main vehicle access will be from Whitelaw Road with a secondary access from Lunn Gardens.

There will also be a pedestrian only link into the public park to the north.