Omnivale applied to Fife Council for planning permission in principle to build the homes in a paddock north of Leadside Crescent and east of the A823 at Wellwood.

William Shand, planning officer, told The Courier that the lack of a link road would cast doubt upon the council’s strategic development plan for the area, which includes proposals for thousands of new homes as part of a significant expansion of the town.

Mr Shand said: “The applicant has not proposed an alternative route for the northern link road or given enough justification as to why they should not deliver it.”

He said the site was only zoned for 100 houses, rather than 140, and a sufficient transport assessment had not been carried out to prove the roads network could accommodate the extra traffic.

He added that while it would have had two vehicular accesses as well as pedestrian and cycle links, a lack of routes for pedestrians and cyclists to the north, east and south would have resulted in the site being “a large cul-de-sac which would not be considered to support good design or sustainability”.

“The NLR provides capacity for the cumulative impact of development and alleviates the impact of development on town centre junctions and the Halbeath Road network in particular.

“There is a risk, if this development did not pay their contributions, that all other development in the Dunfermline area could reasonably ask not to pay or ask for their contributions to be returned. Should contributions stop, then development would also need to stop…”

Omnivale said its proposal complied with Scottish planning policy. The developer also emphasised it was willing to make contributions towards affordable housing and education.

However, Omnivale argued that the level of contribution requested for the link road was “not proportionate or specific to the impact of this development”.