Road safety is not a reason to reject proposals for a new housing development at South Road, Cupar, because the extra traffic generated would be similar to that which existed when the site was home to the Martex Cash and Carry.
That is the conclusion of a Fife Council planning report, which says it would be ”unreasonable” to demand extra road safety measures.
Landbank Estates Ltd revealed last year it wants to transform the brownfield land by creating 34 properties and associated access roads on the site.
According to the Landmark Estates Ltd application, 22 of the proposed units will be terraced houses, with the remaining 12 likely to be flats.
The site has lain largely unused for several years and residents have been keen to see something done with the land.
In a report to Fife Council’s north-east Fife area committee being held in Cupar on Wednesday, Fife Council planning official Robert Stirling is still recommending to councillors that the application for housing be approved.
A decision was deferred from the previous committee meeting on June 20 so councillors could make a site visit and hold further discussions with the applicant.
Mr Stirling says the applicant has yet to confirm the arrangements for the future maintenance of the development’s open space.
However, the applicant has submitted a full sustainable urban draining system scheme, demonstrating compliance with requirements ensuring there is no increased surface water run-off from the site.
The applicant has also submitted a street scene showing the relationship of the existing houses on the South Road frontage with the proposed new street frontage.
The report states there is separation of approximately six metres and that there would be no unacceptable impact on the neighbouring residential properties.
Regarding traffic, the report states: ”The applicant has had further discussions regarding transportation issues and while accepting that traffic on South Road is at times heavy, the traffic generation replacement value for the former Martex cash and carry is considered to be similar.
”This being the case, it would be unreasonable to require road safety measures additional to those proposed.”
The planning report concludes that the redevelopment of this site is ”long overdue” both from the point of view of residential amenity and visual impact.
The report states: ”Although the design and lay out does not fully meet policy requirements, on balance, a substantial improvement to the area would be achieved by the higher density proposed on the application site within walking distance of the retail centre and public transport connections and these sustainable factors are considered to be sufficiently significant in supporting a recommendation for approval subject to conditions.”
UPDATE: The proposals won the unanimous approval of the North East Fife Area Committee on August 29.