Fife councillors will be urged to refuse controversial plans for a care home and housing development when they come before them.
Members of the Central Fife planning committee unanimously agreed with planners that the proposal for the site of the former Diosynth chemical factory in Buckhaven is against the local plan and should be turned down.
The application will now go before a full Fife Council meeting for a final decision to be made.
Landowner Jeanette Penman has been trying for several years to secure planning permission for the care home, dementia unit and affordable housing on the site at Muiredge.
She claims Buckhaven is crying out for new housing and that her proposal would meet the needs of local people.
However, the council maintains that the land is crucial to the economic future of Levenmouth and wants it for a low carbon investment park to complement the existing energy park.
A compulsory purchase order for the site has been agreed, although Mrs Penman has claimed she has been offered £1 million less than she paid for it.
The area is zoned for employment purposes in the local plan, although this was not the case when Mrs Penman bought the site.
Though agreeing to officers’ recommendations, local councillor Andrew Rodger said it “rankled” with him that a similar housing proposal was approved for Coaltown of Wemyss, just two miles from the Diosynth site.
“I find it unbelievable that one of the reasons being given for refusal is transport issues,” he said.
“Just look two miles up the road and see what’s there, yet the same thing has been recommended for refusal here. We are not being consistent in what we are doing.”
However, council officers responded that, if approved, the plan would result in a residential development between two industrial sites, which was not good practice.
They also argued that future residents would suffer noise as a result of nearby businesses.