Fife Council kept a Glenrothes community council in the dark over a major planning application, it has been claimed.
Peter Scobie, the chairman of Pitteuchar, Stenton and Finglassie Community Council, says the group was not given any information about plans to build more than 400 houses and a number of industrial units at Westwood Park, near the Bankhead roundabout.
The project, which was approved in principle by councillors last week, would be the biggest in the town for a generation if developers proceed with construction.
However, despite its scale, Mr Scobie says Fife Council did nothing to inform him of the planning application, a claim the local authority has denied.
“We were told nothing,” Mr Scobie told The Courier. “We are having to do the same things as the general public by going on the website to find information.
“Our community council is getting angry as Fife Council is supposed to inform us of these things. We can’t tell residents what is going on. They are asking us and we don’t know ourselves.”
Last week saw members of Fife Council’s central area planning committee approve proposals that could see 420 homes and further industrial units developed at the site, located between Stenton and the Bankhead roundabout.
Housing would be located on the west and south-east corners of the site, sandwiching the existing and new industrial units. Access to business premises would be maintained via the Bankhead roundabout, while residential access would be accessed from Foxton Drive.
Under government legislation, community councils have a statutory right to be consulted on local planning issues and local authorities are encouraged to work closely with such bodies.
Although Mr Scobie said the community council did not object to the development, he said he only knew a decision on the plans was imminent after reading about it in The Courier.
However, Fife Council has rejected Mr Scobie’s claims and says the community council was consulted, and even participated in the planning process.
Elspeth Cook, development management at the local authority, admitted that although there had been some time between communications, the community council’s views were taken on board.
She said: “The planning application in question was lodged in April 2012. The community council was one of the formal consultees and provided a detailed response in September 2012.
“We appreciate there has been some time since the initial consultation and the planning application coming before committee, however, the comments of the community council were considered by the planning committee when they took their decision.
“There is currently no procedure in place to advise consultees that an application will be on a committee agenda.
“The service would be happy to discuss our procedures with the community council representatives.”