MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife Alex Rowley, has found that while he has been campaigning in Kelty to stop plans for 900 houses happening until the health centre is replaced, a number of large housing proposals have been placed on hold because of lack of infrastructure issues.

Said the Kelty based MSP: "The proposed development of 900 houses at Kelty also raises wider issues for large scale developments across Fife.

"I was told by the planning department's Robin Presswood there are currently four being stalled as a result of this sort of issue.

"There is also a question on how effective NHS Fife are at projecting future demand for facilities and services.

"In the Kelty case the GP surgery have objected to the plans for 900 new homes on the grounds the current health centre does not have any more capacity and yet NHS Fife has not made any case as part of the planning consultation.

"However, I have discovered that the main reason nothing is progressing is the need for up-front money for a new school."

And Steve Grimmond underlined the situation in comments made to the MSP. He said: "The provision of education infrastructure remains challenging, and I have arranged for the Executive Directors, Enterprise & Environment and Education & Children’s Services to lead a joint working group, looking in to areas, such as Kelty, where limited transitional capacity exits to support new development before developer funded primary schools are required.

"As you know, challenges in the school estate are being exacerbated by the proposed introduction of additional hours of nursery support for 2, 3 and 4 year olds, which, whilst welcome, has created a further challenge for us to manage.

"In terms of the health care requirements to accommodate new development, the Kelty proposal was subject to consultation through the early stages of the Local Development Plan process. That included consulting NHS Fife who provided general comments on a number of sites across Fife and were aware of the scale of development proposed throughout Fife."

Mr Rowley has also written to the planning applicants for the 900 homes in Kelty, I H Brown, stressing that the pressure on health centre capacity is a major issue.

He has also written to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on the matter asking that she looks at infrastructural issues as they impact on planning applications and he is awaiting her reply.