PLANS to build a three-bedroom home on the site of a fire-hit scout hall in Cardenden have been doused by Fife Council.
The 4th Fife premises have been empty and uninhabitable since the blaze in February 2019 but development was ruled out as the site has a "10 per cent chance of flooding" each year.
Pauline and Jim Smith wanted to knock down the scout hall on Cardenden Road and replace it with a single storey house for them to live in.
A statement on their behalf by KC Planning said: "The site has lain redundant for the past four or so years following a fire which left the building severely damaged and in a state of disrepair.
"The building is not capable of rehabilitation."
The plans included a decked garden extension, access ramps for the home and two parking spaces.
A previous application was withdrawn in September last year.
The site is just under 500 square metres in size, with the Den Burn to the east.
A council report said that while the replacement of the fire-damaged hall was desirable, flood maps drawn up by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) show a "high likelihood of river flooding" at the site.
It said the benefits would be "significantly outweighed by flood risk and climate resilience/sustainability concerns".
In the statement, the Smiths' planning agent had argued: "If the scout hall was recommissioned and put into use again the users would be at a greater level of flood risk than the users of the proposed development."
The council's flooding, shoreline and harbours team recommended refusal of the Smiths' plans in light of the "increased vulnerability of development".
And a report by the planning case officer said: "On balance, it is considered that a dwellinghouse with a family normally sleeping on the premises overnight is a significantly more vulnerable scenario than intermittent use of a scout hall by active young people."
The fire at the scout hall in 2019 came shortly after £30,000 had been spent on improvements such as a new kitchen, bathroom, heating system, double glazing and redecoration.
Thousands of pounds worth of equipment, including canoes and camping gear, was also lost but earlier this year there was good news for the "nomadic" 4th Fife group with the green light for a new home opposite St Ninian’s Primary School.
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