A caravan park which it was feared would have compounded a road safety threat to school children has been halted by a Scottish Government reporter.
Locals in Gateside have been fighting plans to create a holiday park at Edenshead, in the middle of the small village, since they were lodged in December 2010.
Fife councillors shared their concerns and refused planning permission in September last year and now Government reporter Loughridge has agreed.
He has dismissed an appeal by Simon Wilson, who is seeking planning permission for 50-pitch site for tourers.
Speeding is an acknowledged problem in Gateside, which sits on the busy A91 between the M90 and St Andrews.
Residents feared that road safety, particularly for pupils at the primary school who would have to cross the site access for PE lessons in the village hall, would be further threatened by motor homes and cars towing caravans entering and leaving the park.
Alan Muirhead, secretary of Auchtermuchty and Strathmiglo Community Council, which represents the village, said residents were happy to see the proposal thrown out.
He said: “There was a lot of concern, both at the thought of the caravan park itself and where it was, and because that road is an ongoing worry with the speed of the traffic through the village.
“To have another major facility there was going to feed extra traffic onto the road. It is a busy road, with traffic coming on to the A91 off the A912 from Bein Inn.
“The danger posed by the speed of the traffic is an issue that the community council is constantly highlighting. The reporter has rejected the appeal quite firmly on the grounds of transportation.”
Gateside Community Association has been at the forefront of the campaign against the tourist accommodation, which included a petition of more than 100 signatures.
It claimed that traffic would be increased through the village and that a new junction proposed by the applicant onto the A91 would pose a hazard to schoolchildren. Chairwoman Jane Macnaughton was unavailable for comment.
While the council had also cited a lack of demand of the facility and unplanned development in the countryside in its grounds for refusing planning permission, Mr Loughridge rejected the appeal solely on the basis of road safety.
During a site visit outwith the tourist season, he noted that the “volume and speed of traffic was considerable”.
He said: “I do not consider that the road network can safely accommodate the traffic likely to be generated by the development were it to be permitted.”
Mr Wilson, who proposed no more than 50 pitches, claimed Gateside was an ideal location for such a facility, in easy reach of tourist centres, attractions and events.
He intended to form an access from the A91 through a field to the north of the woodland where the pitches would be created.
A transport assessment he commissioned concluded that traffic generation would be low and that an appropriate junction with adequate visibility splays could be created with the road. He also claimed the park would bring an estimated £275,000 a year into the local economy.
Police conduct regular speed checks at Gateside due to the number of motorists breaking the 30mph limit as they pass through the village.
Local schoolchildren have also tried to persuade drivers to slow down, producing posters and banners which were placed on the school gates.