Castlehill

On Wednesday 2nd June, Fife Council West Area Planning Committee passed a resolution to grant planning consent for 44 houses at Castlehill. This is located 1.5 miles to the west of Blairhall and is the site of the old redundant and derelict Castlehill mine which was part of the wider Longannet Mining Complex.

Following the abandonment of the Longannet Mine, this site along with several others has been left in a state of dereliction and is an eyesore in the countryside. Several years ago Lomond Homes acquired the site with a view to its ultimate long term regeneration. After consideration of various different uses for the site, and detailed discussions with Fife Council, it was decided that the most appropriate concept was; an exemplar of high standards of sustainable development in a rural housing development. To achieve this we employed the leading planning consultancy Barton Wilmore. In addition we partnered with the internationally renowned carbon neutral developer Bio Regional Quintain. Bio Regional have developed award winning carbon neutral housing schemes such as Bedzed and Brighton One and are delivering other groundbreaking developments such as Wembley and Greenwich Village in London. We are delighted to have benefited from their experience.

Lomond Homes’ vision is to transform the redundant mine into an eco village. It will be designed to partly reflect housing vernacular in the local area and preserve some of the mining heritage; but will also be thoroughly contemporary in design and layout, and particularly will utilise the most modern construction methods and materials to minimise energy use and carbon impact.

Through an extensive and iterative consultation process, both with the local community and Fife Council, and drawing inspiration from “Scotland’s Housing Expo 2010”, a draft masterplan has evolved which will form the basis for moving forwards with detailed designs for the site. It is not only our intention to create a sustainable development, but set out the building blocks for the birth of a sustainable community. This will be encouraged by amongst other things, community growing spaces, a community centre, recycling facilities, a car club, and live work units.

There is much work still to do to achieve this, but Lomond Homes, working with its partners hope to deliver a groundbreaking development, which not only helps to remove some of the industrial legacy of the 20th Century, but sets new benchmarks for housing development and rural living in the 21st Century.