LIDL have tweaked the plans for their proposed new supermarket in Rosyth but it doesn't mean they'll start work any sooner.
Fife Council have agreed to a request to cut the number of parking spaces to 104 – the second time the German firm has asked for a reduction – but it's still more than two years before shoppers can push a trolley down the aisles of the Admiralty Road store.
Planning permission was granted in April 2018 and Lidl told the Press in April that building work would not start until January 2025 with a scheduled opening date of November 2025.
The latest change was approved last month but this week a spokesperson said it was not an indication that work was about to begin and there was "no change" to the timetable.
Just over a hectare in size, the site of the new Lidl store includes the former ground of Rosyth FC and lies between Admiralty Road and Castle Road.
Initially there were to be 123 parking spaces, this was then amended to 119 in November 2020 and now it's down to 104, with 15 for taxis and two bays with electric car charging points.
The council decided that this would "still provide a sufficient and acceptable level of off-street parking".
It's more than five years since full planning permission, with conditions, was granted to erect a new supermarket, implement access improvements, create parking spaces and a taxi rank.
It will create 35 full and part-time jobs but there has been disappointment that it won't open until late 2025.
The provision of a replacement pitch for Rosyth FC proved a major stumbling block and held up progress for years as no suitable site could be found, with the Fleet Grounds ruled out after the council decided to build the replacement Inverkeithing High School there.
Eventually it was agreed that a new astroturf pitch and home for the football club – who have been homeless since 2018 – would be built at Pitreavie playing fields.
The plans for the Lidl store include the demolition of the remaining buildings on the site, not that there's much left after persistent anti-social behaviour.
The old Yard pub was demolished in July 2019, just a few weeks after a fire ripped through the empty building.
The "derelict" changing rooms at the ground then went up in flames in February 2020 and were completely destroyed.
The remnants were knocked down and removed.
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