PLANS for the creation of 159 homes in Cowdenbeath are a step closer after councillors gave proposals the thumbs up.

In-Site Property Solutions had applied for planning permission in principle for the demolition of existing buildings and the erection of new properties at the Thistle Industrial Estate.

There are 56 buildings currently on the site however members of the Central and West Planning Committee heard last week that only 21 were occupied with many in a dilapidated condition.

Planner Katherine Pollock said the application seeks to demolish existing buildings and replace them with homes, new access roads, drainage and landscaping.

“The application as originally submitted was for residential development across the full extent of the application site with an indicative layout for up to 236 units,” she explained.

“During the application process, the applicant amended the proposal, reducing the area of land proposed for residential development from 7.6 to 4.26 hectares, allowing for retention of 3.35 hectares of existing employment land.

“The applicant has confirmed that it is anticipated that up to 159 residential units could be accommodated within the area of land proposed for residential development.”

Members of the committee unanimously agreed the application however Councillor Mino Manekshaw did express some concerns over the development.

He said: “I looked at the apartment blocks and only a small enclave of single storey buildings at the top of the left hand side.

"It reminds me so much of a seventies housing estate.

“It shows a terrible lack of vision and I wonder is this all being driven by the need to get the number of properties into the available space?

"Is this really the best that we can expect?”

Ms Pollock said the initial designs were depicted as exampled and said further detail would be provided and “rigorously assessed” as the plans progress.

The site was previously home to the National Coal Board’s workshops, in Church Street, and provided thousands of jobs for local people over seven decades.

The workforce, at times numbering close on 1,000 people, looked after the pits of Scotland and kept them going by carrying out heavy duty repairs on key equipment.

When the deep mining industry started to decline in the early 1990s the workshops closed and Thistle Industrial Estate was created.

The committee also agreed to a proposal put forward by Labour councillor Bobby Clelland, who is himself a former miner, that public art which is to be provided as part of the new development should reflect the site’s coal mining history.

“Some of the buildings are 100 years old,” he explained. “It used to be the coal board’s.

"I was wondering if the public art can be more specific to remember the historical mining aspect of the site.”