The “largest area of post-industrial dereliction in west Fife” could soon be transformed after ambitious plans were approved by councillors.
LRD Ltd’s multi-million-pound plans for the former Comrie Colliery site includes extracting coal and red shale by opencast methods and then restoring the heavily contaminated land which lies close to Blairhall and the plans could bring a massive windfall of over £100,000 for local communities.
The former pit is a blot on the west Fife landscape a combination of contaminated land, a 40-metre-high burning colliery waste bing and former pithead area conspire to produce over 100 hectares of countryside which is currently unfit for any conventional use.
Mining has taken place at the site since at least the 1860s. Initially, these were pits for ironstone workings.
Comrie Colliery opened in 1939 and the large-scale bing became noticeable on maps from the 1950s and 60s. The pit closed in 1986 and almost all the plant, buildings and railway line that ran into the site were removed.
Contaminated land investigations around Bickram Wood appeared to indicate that before the Rexco smokeless fuel plant was established in the 1960s, this area could have been used for the dumping of waste from around the time of the second world war. High levels of cyanide have been found in that part of the site which is enclosed by a secure fence.Coal extractionThe plans would see 686,000 tonnes of coal extracted from the site. Money made from that would be reinvested to work on the bing, treat contamination in Bickram Wood and the former Rexco plant and create new wetland habitat.
In the longer term, the applicants have aspirations to develop the site. These would be subject to additional applications for planning permission.
Councillors on the South West Fife area committee gave the plans conditional approval.
West Fife and Coastal Villages councillor Bill Walker said, “The site of over 200 acres is a long-lasting and often burning eyesore in west Fife which is completely unsuitable for any countryside or rural use.
“Several proposals have been put forward before, but this now successful one will allow for the open-cast extraction of some 686,000 tonnes of coal and the remediation and restoration of the area over four years.”
Mr Walker added that he expected the proposed community trust fund would be available for local projects.
“I thoroughly welcome this long-awaited development to remove one of the largest areas of industrial dereliction in west Fife which will then bring significant environmental and economic benefits to the area,” he said.