Dunedin apply to develop land at 2 Queen Anne Street

Dunedin Heritable Investments Ltd, of Edinburgh, have applied to Fife Council for planning permission for new flats on land at 2 Queen Anne Street.

If approved they'll develop the "unsightly" plot - the previous building went on fire and was demolished in 2008 - that's next to the stairway connecting Bruce Street and the bus station and make the properties available for Airbnb style short-term let.

The derelict and unattractive site is a disincentive to take the steps between Bruce Street and the bus station. (Image: Google Maps) A planning statement explained: "Dunfermline is likely to see an increase in demand for short term lettable accommodation with nearby developments of Fife College and an anticipated increase in tourism to West Fife, hence the proposals for studio apartments or one bed apartments.

"These serviced apartments will also help to add to the housing mix locally, providing useful accommodation for less than a three month long let and potentially bridging that gap with medium stays between these longer lets and short expensive hotel stays."

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It added: "The proposals are for high quality, energy efficient studio homes, appropriate for people undertaking further and higher education as well as visitors, tourists and workers requiring temporary accommodation for nearby hubs such as Rosyth or Mossmorran."

Previous plans for a three-storey building, including two offices and four flats, were approved in 2013 and again in 2016 but never progressed.

The company explained: "The site was previously a two storey gym, destroyed by fire some years ago and, since then, has remained an unsightly and rather unsafe feature for pedestrians navigating between the bus station and Bruce Street.

"The site is very constrained, restricted to the west between the backs of the two storey category C listed shop units at 30 and 43 Bruce Street and public steps, rising over two a half metres, to Dunfermline Bus Station to the east."

Dunedin said the derelict and unattractive area currently acts as "a positive disincentive" to take the steps between the bus station and Bruce Street.

And they added: "This site urgently needs developed with a new building in place to knit it back into the urban fabric here are repair the damage at the site edges and the project has support in the local community to try to find a new use and get the process moving again to secure a useful new building here."