A PUBLIC consultation event is being held next week to help cement proposals for a new housing development near Townhill Country Park.

Following an online consultation exercise, Fife-based developer Lochay Homes are holding an event in Townhill Community Centre on Monday from 3-7.30pm on their hopes to build around 60 houses with associated access, open space and related infrastructure on land to the north of Kent Street in Dunfermline.

A Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) was lodged earlier this year and a formal planning application is likely to be submitted after the consultation session.

The latest proposals come after the site was the subject of an application for 92 new homes previously by Glasgow developers MacTaggart and Mickel, although nothing has yet become of those plans.

Initially, councillors turned down consent for MacTaggart and Mickel’s vision for the site, citing overdevelopment, in July 2019, but that decision was overturned following an appeal to Scottish ministers which was sustained in June 2020.

Nevertheless, the four-hectare site between Kent Street and Townhill Road, which borders the entrance to the country park and national waterski centre, remains undeveloped and Cardenden-based developer Lochay Homes is the latest to draw up plans for the area.

Townhill Community Council objected to the previous development, suggesting that the proposed number of houses was too high, but it will be asked for comments as part of the new public consultation process in relation to Lochay Homes’ plans for a far smaller number of homes.