An extension of the surface coal mine at Muir Dean near Crossgates has been given the go-ahead by councillors.
Fife Council’s planning committee supported plans to expand the mine to the south and south-west in a move which will see excavations continue there for the next three years at least.
Muir Dean has been operating since April 2008 and has exported coal since that July, with an estimated 10,000 tonnes exported every week.
With the original reserve boasting two million tonnes of coal, the extensions will lead to 335,000 more tonnes and extend on-site operations to November 2014 eight months beyond the date set by original planning permission.
Mining in the western extension area is likely to begin in spring, before the excavation progresses across the eastern part of Broomieside Lane and past Annfield Farm. It is anticipated that mining in both areas can be carried out simultaneously.
The entire site will then undergo 18 months of restoration.
A report by case officer James Wright recommended that committee members approve the plans.
Most of the coal will be transported to Longannet Power Station using the B981, A921, A985 and C5.
The planning committee heard that their counterparts on the Cowdenbeath and south-west Fife area committees preferred coal to be transported by rail or sea, but Mr Wright explained that those avenues had proved fruitless.
The committee was also assured that a maximum of 10,000 tonnes of coal would be transported each week, so there would be no increase in volume travelling out of the site by road.
There is also scope to renegotiate an agreement with the site’s operators to ensure that the amount of cash put back into the Muir Dean Environmental Trust set up for the community’s benefit could rise from 25p to 27.5p per tonne.
That increase is likely to apply to the 335,000 additional tonnes due to be excavated, and not the first two million tonnes the developer was originally granted permission for.