Ambitious proposals for a new housing development at a prominent site in South Road, Cupar, have been lodged with Fife Council, it has emerged.
London-registered Landbank Estates Ltd has revealed it wants to transform the brownfield land by creating 34 properties and associated access roads on the site, which was previously home to the Martex cash and carry building.
According to the firm’s application, 22 of the proposed units will be terraced houses, with the remaining 12 likely to be flats if the plans are ultimately given the go-ahead.
The site has lain largely unused for several years and many locals have been keen to see something done with the land, although the latest application is likely to again raise concerns about traffic congestion in and around an already busy part of town.
Whatever happens, residents and visitors alike will be anxious to see how the latest episode in a lengthy planning saga pans out.
Discount supermarket chain Aldi, which latterly owned the land, had intended to build a new branch there and had flattened the Martex building to make way for that development.
But when contractors demolished the building in 2006 there was unrest about how the work which included removal of asbestos was conducted and the local councillor complained to the Health and Safety Executive.
Aldi, however, insisted the work was in accordance with guidelines.
The demolition proved to be largely academic in any case, though, as the council refused planning permission for the new store after hearing from officials that there could be an “unacceptable impact” on town centre retailers and that the new Tesco store to be built in the same street and the nearby Lidl store had satisfied demand for retail space.
Aldi then announced in 2008 that it wanted to sell the land, which it has since done for an undisclosed sum.
Despite the site’s chequered history Stuart Davidson from the Davidson Design Partnership in Kirkcaldy, which is acting as agent for the latest planning application said he hoped the new housing plans would find favour and would be able to move forward in the coming months.
“We’ve had discussions with all the various authorities regarding the layout and the scheme has been designed in accordance with transportation services’ policy so currently we think it’s acceptable,” he added.
The plans have been given a tentative welcome by Loretta Mordi, convener of Cupar Community Council planning sub-group, although she said that community council members will have to inspect the finer details of the proposals closely.
“That site has been undeveloped for a long time now and it is a key site coming into Cupar, so it should not have been left like it has,” she said.
“If there has been plans for a development I think it would be good to have something on that site but I’m not sure about the number of homes or the type of development that has been proposed.
“I think 34 might be too many considering the traffic congestion in the past.”