Developers behind a proposed massive northern expansion of Cupar are “fully committed” to talking to residents, a packed public meeting hosted by Cupar Community Council has heard.
The meeting, addressed by Fife Council officials and attended by around 70 members of the public on Wednesday night, saw questions asked about the need for such a development in the first place to the potential impact on schools, medical services and transport.
A demand was also made to build a bypass for the town before considering any more developments.
Ambitious suggestions were also made by Cupar charity Sustainable Cupar that early efforts should be made to influence the design with walking and cycling at its heart.
However, others suggested the developers were only interested in profit.
The meeting, held in the County Buildings, aimed to “kick-start” community engagement and involvement.
A consortium of developers now hopes to build 1,400 homes (including 20% affordable homes), a bypass, primary school and business and retail parks to the north of the town.
The consortium would also have to finance a bypass of the town and Fife Council has made it clear a legal agreement would ensure the relief road would not be left unfinished.
The evening provided the public with an update on the progress made by the council and development consortium.
Fife Council planner Andrew Sim, who is project managing Cupar North, described it as “fundamentally a corporate project”.
He said ultimate aims from a council planning perspective were to re-establish Cupar as a market town and solve long-term traffic problems in the centre.
He said detailed proposals had yet to come forward and anticipated the first detailed application within months.
Cupar Community Council chairman Canon Pat McInally said letters from the consortium indicated they were not yet ready to meet but were “fully committed” to engaging with the community with “several opportunities” to get involved.
He noted Auchterarder in Perthshire “started thriving” when a bypass was built.
However, Cupar councillor Bryan Poole, pictured, said he remained to be convinced by the plans.
He was concerned about where the estimated £19 million-plus needed to build the bypass would come from and whether the proposed number of houses might increase if costs spiralled.
He also wondered who would pay for the proposed school, which would be needed by 2020 if house building started in the next few years.
Several members of the public questioned where demand for the new houses was going to come from. Mr Sim said the demand was based on current and predicted demographic shifts.
Cupar resident Brian Murray demanded the bypass be built before any work started to prevent heavy construction traffic using existing residential streets, potentially for years.
Concern was also expressed about the potential impact of traffic from 1,400 new houses on the medieval-designed centre of town.
Retired Cuparmuir sawmiller Ronnie Law questioned where employment for 1,400 new households was going to come from.
He warned Cupar was becoming a dormitory town and called for more inward investment. Mr Sim agreed job creation was vital and underlined the importance of the proposed business and retail parks.
Picture by George McLuskie