Golf course proposed for former mine in Fife

By Alistair October 31, 2023 09:20

A former colliery in Fife could be turned into a golf resort featuring a hotel, holiday park and housing.

The owner of Comrie Colliery has submitted a plan to Fife Council that it says will create 1,400 jobs during construction and sustain employment for 650 people year on year.

Comrie Development Company (CDC) bought the sprawling site featuring over 440 acres in 2020 and the proposals also include a care village, garden centre, public park, a loch for water sports, a large renewable energy hub, business units and a heritage centre.

The firm says it will plough £30 million into the local economy every year and bring back into use “West Fife’s largest vacant and derelict land site”.

Director Robert Haugh said: “This has been a very exciting journey and I am delighted to bring forward such a strong proposition with our whole team looking forward to making this project a reality.”

The ambitious project is for a 150-bed hotel, which would be three or four stars, with a wellness spa, gym, swimming pool, tennis centre, shop, cafe / restaurant and a ‘Fife Cooking Centre’.

Full restoration of the old mine would also see a nine-hole golf course, a care village with up to 320 retirement properties, a garden centre and cafe with a farm shop and ‘rural foods outlet’, a new 10 hectares public park with water-based sports and leisure activities on offer, and the retention and enhancement of 34 hectares of woodland.

A mine. Image by DariuszSankowski

A solar farm would take up 80 acres and Haugh said they’re also looking into establishing if “the old mine workings can provide geothermal energy through heat recovery from mine water” under the ground.

If successful it could provide energy from the mixed-use development and also be used for a district heating scheme to benefit the local community.

The retirement village and building of 192 homes would help “fund and facilitate” the development and restoration plans and there will be land available for industrial and business units to “provide much needed space for local businesses”.

In a planning statement, Ironside Farrar explained: “Comrie represents a major opportunity to secure new investment in West Fife, regenerate local communities and address – without public sector funding – the restoration of West Fife’s largest vacant and derelict land site.

“The project is ambitious, requires a major long-term commitment and requires planning permission in principle to unlock investment confidence and advance to the next stages of investment.”

Comrie Colliery occupied the site from 1939 until 1986.

If the masterplan is approved, the project would be delivered in phases between 2026 and 2037.

Ironside Farrar concluded: “The proposals seek to create a high quality sustainable tourism and leisure destination with associated enabling housing.

“The development will address the significant need for restoration of the site, whilst providing economic and community benefits to the site and surrounding area.”