Blocks of flats blighted by antisocial behaviour will be razed next year to make way for a new care village in Anstruther.
An exact date has yet to be set for demolition but it is expected the village’s five-storey Mayview flats will be taken down in spring.
On Wednesday, councillors on North East Fife Area Committee agreed the four-block residential site should be redeveloped as Anstruther Care Village.
The care village – 24 residential spaces, 12 extra care flats and two disabled-friendly bungalows – will replace the 39-bed Ladywalk House, which will be demolished to make way for around 20 council houses.
Plans will be put before the next policy and coordination committee for approval.
John Cooper, service manager for Fife Council’s older people’s services, said the extra care flats would allow people to live independently while having carers close at hand.
“This is an innovative design for us in Fife. What this site offers us is an opportunity for older people to live as unsupported as they can for as long as they can while having the support on site as and when they need it, so much more of a community support model.
“We think this is an exciting and innovative opportunity.”
The decision ends a long-running saga over the new facility’s location.
Nearby Bankie Park had been mooted but this option was taken off the table after a public outcry, leaving Fife Health and Social Care Partnership struggling to find a suitable alternative location.
Independent councillor Linda Holt described the plans before the committee as a “brilliant proposal”.
She said: “Given the long and arduous journey we’ve had to get here, I have got total confidence that this is the best option in terms of site, in terms of value for money and in terms of satisfying the housing and care needs in the East Neuk.”
Built in the 1960s, the flats at Mayview Avenue and Mayview Court had become unpopular with prospective tenants because of issues with antisocial behaviour.
Once popular with couples and young families, the flats had gained a bad reputation and been difficult to allocate in recent years.
The meeting heard that factors including Right to Buy legislation, the council’s statutory duty to allocate tenancies to those most in need and austerity driven cuts to frontline services had led to an incompatible mix of tenants and “stretched” management resources.
