A NEW holiday park with up to 100 lodges is to be built on the site of Scotland's last deep coal mine.

Councillors approved plans to turn the old derelict Castlehill pit near Blairhall into a "high quality" leisure destination that could generate £9 million for the local economy.

The change of use of the six hectare site from "former industrial land to holiday lodge / caravan park" was agreed by the West and Central planning committee this week.

Manchester based developers, Ben Jurin Architecture Ltd, submitted the plans for Castlehill Lodge Resort which, as well as up to 100 holiday lodges, includes a retail unit and a new link to the adjacent Dunfermline to Alloa cycle path.

They'll also offer to run a daily bus service to Culross and transport to nearby bus stops.

Developers said the caravan park will regenerate the Castlehill brownfield site, “add to the diversity and economic stability of the local area” and help to address a shortfall in tourist accommodation.

It joins a list of other recently approved holiday parks in the area.

In June, the committee approved plans to redevelop the nearby Comrie Colliery into a multi-million pound development with a hotel, golf course, holiday homes, a visitor centre, care village and new houses.

And a new tourism development was also recently approved near Kelty.

Kirkcaldy councillor James Leslie questioned whether the new Castlehill site would be financially viable.

However, he was told that financial viability and commercial competition is not a planning consideration.

“We can’t refuse it because we think other sites might be more successful,” a planning officer explained.

“In terms of viability, that’s up to the applicant to decide if he thinks he’s going to make money out of the site.”

The plans were approved as councillors agreed that the development would rejuvenate a brownfield site and provide economic benefits to the area.

Castlehill mine operated from 1965 to 1990 and, together with Bogside and Solsgirth, provided coal for the Longannet Power Station.

It was connected by a five mile tunnel.

Owned by the National Coal Board, at its peak almost 800 people worked at Castlehill.

From 1990 it continued on a care and maintenance basis but it closed for good after the flooding of Longannet in 2002 ended deep coal mining in Scotland.