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St Andrews & East Fife Local Plan 2009 Consultation - have your say before 24 December 2009 Fife Council (FC) is inviting comment on the latest consultative draft of the emerging local plan, which sets policy for housing, environmental and other matters. The plan 'identifies' housing sites - in our case a 40 house, greenfield site, appended to Kingsbarns. Apparently, this is our allocated contribution, based on anticipated mixed-housing need for the entire St Andrews Housing Market Area, to 2026. This landowner-promoted scheme will, if given the go-ahead, be implemented in two (10 followed by 30 house) phases, relatively early in the overall timeframe. This is not the type of "smaller scale, organic growth to meet local need" development which is to be encouraged in some other small 'Wider Fife Settlements'. The 'identified' site, KIN 01, lies within a large landward area of farmland, currently designated as an Area of Great Landscape Value (AGLV). According to the plan, FC intends to eliminate this particular AGLV. Current protective policy will no longer apply to future development west of the village. In 1970, all of Kingsbarns was chosen as one of three 'pilot' conservation areas because it had "remained substantially intact and unspoilt" over the years, and it is currently an outstanding conservation area in entirety. But, the conservation area will not be extended to include KIN 01. Whilst protective policy will continue to control development in the conservation area, it will not apply to any development in the 'identified' appended site. KIN 01 - West of Square - Greenfield site for 40 houses outwith the conservation area in an AGLV. The recent '2009 Survey' showed that the majority of residents oppose the location of the 'identified' site. The proportion of villagers who say that there should be 'no more than 20 houses' has risen from 49% (2005 Survey) to 61% (2009 Survey). Permission exists for at least 10 new houses in and around the village. Potential exists for further brownfield development. Is there a 'need' for greenfield development? In proposing this site, it could be argued that Fife Council has failed to take account of the facts that:
We have been here before. In response to a 1989 proposal to site housing west of the square ('indicated' in a draft of our current Largo & East Neuk LP), Cllr. Mike Scott-Hayward stated that "the community of Kingsbarns, generally speaking, appear to be set against the development of the Station Road site. The main reasons for this would seem to hinge on the fact that this actually does spoil an important part of the village and intrudes into what can be seen as an indent in the boundary of the conservation area. The spirit of the conservation area, it seems to me, would be to preserve the character of the village, particularly along this older boundary. The site is particularly sensitive as it is close to the older housing, the very characteristic village square, the church and the pub." Cllr. Scott-Hayward went on to suggest, at the time, that the site be deleted from the draft LP and that FC look at other sites for housing in the village, if it is necessary. The site was then deleted from the plan. If you feel that the current 'identified' site should be deleted from the emerging plan, or that there are other sites more suitable for housing, if it is necessary, then it is not too late to say so. FC is more likely to take account of concerns if they are raised as reasoned objections. e.g. I object to x because y. View the plan at http://lpconsult.fife.gov.uk/portal/fsaeflp09 Comments can be made online, or sent to: EFLP2a, Fife Council, FREEPOST RRKT-TTSR-KBYU, Development Services, Town House, 2 Wemyssfield, Kirkcaldy, KY1 1XW You should also raise concerns with the community council. According to FC "representations ... will be fully considered over the coming months and will influence whether, and where, changes may be made to the Local Plan." We shall see. Send Feedback here Larger-scale 'strategic' regional-need growth or Smaller-scale 'organic' local-need growth - which do we deserve? Kingsbarns lies within the St Andrews & NE Fife Housing Market Area (HMA), as defined in the Fife Structure Plan (FSP). Any new housing in any of the towns and small communities in this large region, stretching from Newport to Upper Largo, will effectively contribute to the overall HMA requirement.  According to the FSP, three 'Strategic Land Allocation' (SLA) areas (as shown on map) will provide "the focus for mixed-use development" within the HMA - mostly larger scale greenfield development. Also contributing to the overall HMA housing mix will be 'identified' "smaller scale development" in 'Wider Fife Settlements', where "the approach will be one of organic growth to meet local needs" and where "priority will be placed on developments that reuse brownfield land." Clearly, the bulk of development is being 'allocated' to communities within designated SLA's. And this affects us. For reasons unknown, Kingsbarns has been placed within the 'East Neuk Settlements' SLA, where policy allows for 'strategic', regional need, larger scale, greenfield development - in other words more than our fair share, in the wrong places. Perhaps we shouldn't be expected to absorb so much of this kind of development. It could be argued (see below) that Kingsbarns is wrongly placed within the SLA, that we are in fact a 'Wider Fife Settlement', and that we should therefore contribute to the overall housing mix accordingly - by providing local need, organic, smaller scale, brownfield development. So, should Kingsbarns have been placed in the 'East Neuk Settlements' SLA? Kingsbarns lies within the current Largo & East Neuk Local Plan area. However, that plan covers a large area, and it includes many settlements, like Kingsbarns, which lie outwith 'The East Neuk' itself. Kingsbarns is not officially listed, in that current plan, as being an East Neuk Settlement. In fact, until it surfaced as such in this latest draft of the emerging local plan, Kingsbarns had never been listed as an East Neuk Settlement in any Structure Plan documentation, or in any earlier drafts of the emerging local plan. During earlier consultations and 'Have Your Say' sessions, Kingsbarns was grouped with St Andrews and not with the East Neuk. In response to a Kingsbarns Community Council request for an official view on the matter, the Minutes of Sept 2007 show that Fife Council then confirmed that Kingsbarns is not an East Neuk Settlement. Perhaps FC should tell us why, and when, Kingsbarns was included in the East Neuk Settlement SLA. Otherwise, how can we be sure that FC did not simply 'place' Kingsbarns in the East Neuk Settlement SLA so as to conveniently facilitate a 'promoted' development proposal; a development proposal which would otherwise fail to meet the rather more restrictive "Wider Fife Settlement" policy? That would suit the promoter and Fife Council, but would such development best serve our community needs? Send Feedback here 7 September 2009 - Rural Homes for Rent Pilot Scheme According to the Scottish Government, the Rural Homes for Rent Pilot Scheme funds additional new-build affordable housing for rent in rural Scotland. We are told that grant funding is targeted at landowners in pressured rural housing markets where registered social landlords have been constrained in meeting local housing and homelessness need. The first round of funding was oversubscribed, but twelve projects have now been awarded a share of the £5m grant fund so as to provide 75 new properties for rent in rural Scotland. The Scottish Rural Property and Business Association (SRPBA) - the re-branded Scottish Landowners Association - was heavily involved in the early development, promotion and administration of this scheme, so it is perhaps not altogether surprising that several prominent landowners succeeded in securing grant funding. Local landowner Peter Erskine applied for grant funding for two separate sites, one in Kingsbarns (for a proposal which is judged by some to be highly questionable, premature and basically flawed - see below) and one in Crail. The Kingsbarns (landlord promoted) application was approved but the Crail (landlord/Crail 2020 Committee promoted) application was rejected. Both sites are in the same Local Housing Strategy (LHS) area - whose boundary coincides with that of the existing Largo and East Neuk Local Plan. Should Peter Erskine have been eligible for grant funding under the scheme? The scheme aims to provide a financial 'incentive' to landowners in order to open up an extra source of land which owners might otherwise be unwilling to sell or 'release' for housing - in areas with an acute need for such housing. Given that Peter Erskine required no such incentive - he had already indicated to Fife Council that he was prepared to release (to the local plan allocation) land west of the square for a mixture of 70 housing units (far in excess of that required for local need), long before the incentive scheme was announced - it may concern some to learn that not only did Peter Erskine apply to the scheme, he was deemed eligible and he succeeded in securing grant funding for 10 affordable homes for rent. The maximum grant available to Peter Erskine is £677,400 - based on an average of 4.6 bed-spaces per home. It could be argued that this proposal is premature and not fully developed (for the purposes of the grant application), and that it should therefore have been held over for consideration at a later date. The SRPBA is known to be urging the Scottish Government "to look at bringing forward second round funding as a matter of urgency" for, amongst others, those "who have not developed their proposals in time for first round funding consideration." When applying, grant applicants were supposed to provide the Scottish Government with evidence of support from local authority planners (such as outline planning permission) and evidence of support from the local community. Peter Erskine was not able to provide such evidence of support. That didn't seem to matter in the end. In order to beat the deadline for first round applications every official involved in the process appears to have taken the view that, in this case, there would be no need for Peter Erskine to first:
In his application to the Scottish Government, Peter Erskine stated that it was estimated that planning approval would be in place by July 2009, road construction consents would be in place by August 2009, work would start in January 2010 and be complete by March 2011. But community consultation will not take place until October 2009, at the earliest, for a period of 6 weeks. It will be interesting to see how the democratic process copes with this cart before horse situation. It could be argued that this proposal is basically flawed. Early in the application process, at the 'expression of interest' stage, Peter Erskine provided the Scottish Government with Fife Council derived support documents which wrongly placed Kingsbarns in the St Andrews LHS area, a 'highest' need area with 19.1% (1828 actual) households in need of affordable housing. Kingsbarns is in fact in the Largo and East Neuk LHS area, a 'high' housing area with 8.1% (558 actual) households in need of affordable housing. That fact was only made known to the Scottish Government after official assessment and determination of the 'expression of interest' proposals. In the absence of the correct information during 'expression of interest' assessment and determination, the Scottish government would have been unaware of the fact that Kingsbarns already provides more social rented housing (13.99%) than the Largo and East Neuk LHS area average (12.37%), and significantly more social rented housing than area neighbour Crail (8.70%). Peter Erskine and his supporters were, at a critical stage in the application process, overstating the need for affordable housing in Kingsbarns to a significant extent. Not only that, the Scottish Government was being led to believe that no other sites were available to meet need in the area - when the opposite was the case. Bear in mind that Kingsbarns is in the same LHS area as Crail - Largo and East Neuk. When asked whether or not the 'expression of interest' application for Crail met the criteria for social housing, officials from Fife Council indicated to the Scottish Government that within the Largo and East Neuk LHS area "there are other land opportunities available." In their letter of rejection of the Crail application the Scottish Government stated that "the proposed scheme was deemed a lesser priority for the Pilot following discussions with Fife Council where your project was given a lower priority. This was as a result of housing need being met through other proposed developments by local RSLs [Registered Social Landlords]." In order to avoid confusion here, bear in mind that the Scottish Government was assessing applications according to LHS area need, and it was being told that Kingsbarns was in another LHS area, so those "other proposed developments" could not have included any in Kingsbarns. Had Kingsbarns been placed in the correct housing market area, the Scottish Government would surely have had no choice but to reject the Kingsbarns 'expression of interest' application - for the same reasons as those cited for Crail. This website has obtained a great deal of information regarding this grant application - from Fife Council and from the Scottish Government. Some of this information has been forwarded to Kingsbarns Community Council - most of the information will be published here ahead of the official Local Plan consultation phase. Peter Erskine is also Chairman of Kingsbarns Community Council, and this has caused concern re conflict of interest. If you are concerned about this whole scheme you might be interested in supporting the Legal challenge to the Structure Plan 13 July 2009 - Legal challenge to the Fife Structure Plan 2006 - 2026 Future development in Kingsbarns will be controlled according to policy contained within the forthcoming St Andrew & East Fife Local Plan. That plan will be based on policy contained within the recently approved Fife Structure Plan 2006 - 2026. During the consultation phase the structure plan was described by many as a “developers’ charter,” and it ran into unprecedented objection, much of it from north-east Fife. As it evolved, the plan was the subject of often bitter debate and controversy. Now, a campaigning St Andrews resident has just gone right to the top of Scotland’s legal system with a challenge to the Fife Structure Plan in the Court of Session. Legal papers have been lodged by Penny Uprichard. She could end up with a bill of tens of thousands of pounds, but has already received pledges amounting to £17,000 [£30,000 by mid August, £35,500 by November] towards possible legal costs of the action - prompted mainly by her concern over development plans for St Andrews. Miss Uprichard has called on bodies such as the preservation trust - which she says has considerable assets and a history of defending the town - to back her as she takes on the might of the Scottish ministers who approved the structure plan after a lengthy delay. Miss Uprichard said the legal challenge will probably take months to come to court, and during that time she will be fund-raising to meet possible costs. She said that pledges would only be called in if necessary, and anyone signing pledge forms would only be responsible for that amount, and their confidentiality would be respected. Further information, and printable pledge form here 17 Feb 2009 - North-east Fife area committee chairman Councillor Andrew Arbuckle has circulated community councils in the area to ask for their suggestions about how the council can disperse houses throughout villages and hamlets. The call has come in a letter sent by Mr Arbuckle as consultation - and a degree of confusion - continues over the long-awaited St Andrews and East Fife Local Plan, which will provide a blueprint for future development in conjunction with Fife's controversial structure plan. In his letter Mr Arbuckle said that a great deal of concern has been expressed over the number of houses that might be built in the area in the 20-year life span of the structure plan. He said: "The government expects there to be a rise in the number of people living in northeast Fife and further believes that the trend to single people living in a house will continue to rise. Accordingly it wants to see more land allocated for housing. "Bearing in mind the current recession, and indeed the assumptions on which the additional housing allocation has been made, there are questions about whether the housing will be built. However we are required to have an up-to-date local plan with a minimum five-year housing land supply. "In conjunction with your local councillors, I have expressed a view that officers draw up plans to disperse the numbers of houses throughout the whole of northeast Fife. "Such a dispersal policy will also allow smaller hamlets and villages some scope for expansion without swamping any community." Mr Arbuckle said that he was writing to clarify the position in relation to letters sent out by the council, and also to provide a proposed future timetable. He said that the local plan will include proposals for development sites over the next 10 years. Development services staff are working on the next version of the plan. He added: "Some of you have already passed views to the service, and any such views are being taken into account. "There is, however, still an opportunity for your community to express its views on where it would prefer to see development- or indeed if it does not want any development." The councillor said that the next draft of the local plan will be brought to the May meeting of the north-east Fife area committee for comment, prior to going to Fife Council in June. In autumn the 2009 version will be published for individuals and communities to provide their comments. It is seen as inevitable that unresolved objections will lead to a public inquiry. Views on future development can be put to Fife councillors or to martin.mcgroarty.fife.gov.uk. Housing Policy Future development in Kingsbarns will be controlled according to policy contained within the forthcoming St Andrew & East Fife Local Plan. That plan will be based on policy contained within the new Fife Structure Plan 2006 -2016. The new Fife Structure Plan has attracted huge levels of criticism, right across the board - and it is now subject to challenge in the Court of Session. In the FFSP, Fife Council has identified:
There are significant differences in policy controlling development in identified Strategic Land Allocation Areas (strategic - predominately greenfield) and the surrounding Wider Fife Settlements (organic, local need - predominately brownfield.) Fife Council has identified greenfield land for significant development in Kingsbarns. That would seem to suggest that Kingsbarns lies within a Strategic Land Allocation Area - but does it? There are two ' Strategic Land Allocation Areas' near Kingsbarns - 'East Neuk Settlements' and 'St Andrews West' There is no definitive listing of the East Neuk Settlements in the FFSP. Proposal PH2 suggests that the East Neuk, for the purposes of development control, consists of Crail, Cellardyke, Anstruther and Pittenweem. Various maps in the FFSP show an 'Other Strategic Land Allocation' running along the coast from Crail to Elie. For months residents of Kingsbarns had been trying to establish whether or not the village was being regarded, for planning purposes, as an 'East Neuk Settlement'. Fife Council then confirmed that Kingsbarns is not an 'East Neuk Settlement', as defined in the Structure Plan [Kingsbarns Community Council Minutes, Sept 2007.] Fife Council also confirmed that "Kingsbarns is not in the 'St Andrews West Strategic Land Allocation' area" [Response from Jim Henry to Secretary KCC, 10 Sept 2007.] So, by definition (according to the FFSP): Kingsbarns is a 'Wider Fife Settlement' where we can expect: "smaller scale development which will be identified through Local Plans. The approach for these settlements will be one of organic growth to meet local needs for both housing and employment. Again, priority will be placed on developments that reuse brownfield land and contribute to regeneration" [FFSP, 2.6 'Wider Fife Settlements'] Housing Proposals Housing Site KIN 01 - latest proposed site as identified in the St Andrews and East Fife Local Plan 2009 Revised in name only - basically the same as h32 below - but now the site has Strategic Housing Allocation status Housing Site h32 - proposed site as 'identified' in the St Andrews & East Fife Finalised Draft Local Plan 2006 Site comprises parts of: EFLP 04 - KIN006 West of Square - arable land which "should not be put forward as possible development site" for housing, where any such housing development "would remove the rural aspect of the heart of this settlement" - [Fife Council], and; EFLP 04 - KIN011 North of Station Road - agricultural land with limited potential for housing, where any such development "could breach the skyline to the west especially." - [Fife Council] 
According to Kingsbarns Community Council minutes of 4 September 2006: "In January 2005 the East Fife Local Plan had proposed 110 new houses (70+40) across two potential sites h48 & h49. ....... "The chair reported that the new approved plan [actually the second draft or 'finalised' 2006 version of the Local Plan] identified just one area of 2.6 hectares, designated h32, for 40 houses to straddle Station Road to the west of the village square. The Council proposal is for 10 houses to be built during 2006-2011 with an additional 30 during 2011-2016, to total 40, with no more to be built thereafter within the 20 year period to 2026." Housing sites h48 & h49 - as 'identified' earlier in the St Andrews & East Fife Local Plan (Consultative Draft) 110 houses in Kingsbarns, on open farmland to the west of the square and outwith the current village envelope. 
Proposed housing sites (70 houses in field directly
ahead, 40 houses in field at back of
Manse) Photo Nick LunanThe 'identified' development proposals were: West of Square (h48) - 70 houses proposed. According to Fife Council "records show that h48 is part of a site originally promoted by the landowner Mr Peter Erskine." Please note: part of h48 has now been incorporated in revised local plan site h32 - see above West of Glebe (h49) - 40 houses proposed. This field, at the back of the Manse, is owned by the Church of Scotland. The origins of this proposal are 'unclear.' 
Kingsbarns Community Council carried out a village survey regarding:
The survey was organised by a 'Future of Kingsbarns' sub-committee, and it was supported by: Kingsbarns Community Council sent the results of the survey to Fife Council. Other background information from earlier in the consultation process Fife Council Consultation (Spring 2005) - according to Fife Council: "You have a role to play in Shaping Fife’s Future and are encouraged to have your say on the following draft publications" St Andrews and East Fife Local Plan (Consultative Draft) - This is the first of the new local plans for Fife and for the first time is available on the FifeDirect website as an interactive plan. It identifies where change is proposed, showing in detail the location and nature of development from 2006-2016. This Plan is supported by the Action Plan and a series of background papers. Fife Structure Plan (Consultative Draft) - Fife Matters - The Development Plan explains how and what should be developed in Fife. It is made up of two parts - the Structure Plan and Local Plans. Fife Matters is the Consultative Draft Structure Plan which looks at the development of the whole of Fife over the next 20 years. This then provides the framework for the more detailed Local Plans for St Andrews and East Fife, Kirkcaldy and Mid Fife and Dunfermline and West Fife. The proposed main strategic development areas where large scale development is proposed are Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Levenmouth and Lochgelly. Fife Matters is supported by technical background papers, the Report of Survey, Action Plan and Sustainability Appraisal. Creating a better Fife - Draft Design Guide - This draft guide sets out a Fife-wide approach to designing buildings and open spaces. It aims to improve the standard of all future development, whilst retaining the special character of Fife’s towns and villages. It also aims to raise awareness and interest in urban design and the contribution it can make to creating better places and improving quality of life. Supplementary Guidance on Affordable Housing - The need for affordable housing is one of the main issues that has to be addressed over the next 20 years. Fife Matters identifies where affordable housing is needed but because affordable housing is a complex and dynamic issue, more detailed and complementary guidance is needed to identify how this can be delivered. This is the Affordable Housing Supplementary Guidance. Local Transport Strategy - This sets the long- term strategic vision for transport provision and services for the next 20 years. The long-term goal is to create a balanced, integrated trans-port network, which allows appropriate access to all key needs and services. Area Transport Plans - These have been developed for the West, Central and East Areas of Fife and set out the way that we will deliver practical projects and services in line with the Local Transport Strategy. The priorities of the Area Transport Plans are developed in consultation with local communities. Copies of all of the above draft publications are available to view at Fife Council libraries, Local Offices and Fife Council website - try www.fifedirect.org.uk/developmentplan and work from there. Most of the publications have been copied to this website, for easy reference - follow the links below. The pdf files require acrobat reader and some are quite large (best to 'save' or 'open in new window')
Earlier Community Consultation East Fife Community Consultation - between August and December 2003, 28 public events and a number of outreach sessions were held across East Fife to inform the development of the Local Plan and the strategies and plans of other Fife Council Services and Community Planning partners. EFCC Feedback - Kingsbarns - relevant information from the initial meeting in Boarhills. Your Place Your Plan - the second stage in the consultation process for the evolving St Andrews & East Fife Local Plan. Discussion groups explored issues such as housing, schools, facilities, town centres, countryside matters, green belts and conservation. For the purposes of this exercise Kingsbarns concerns were aired at the St Andrews meeting. Fife Council has recently published the results of this consultation exercise in two forms:
Discussion group workshop notes for all areas are available at www.fifedirect.org.uk/newsevents All the opinions, suggestions and ideas were passed to Fife Council Services and partner agencies, and used to inform the recently published draft of the St Andrews & East Fife Local Plan. Other useful documents Presented to Fife Council Environment and Development Committee, 20 January 2005. The purpose of the report is to seek members’ approval for Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance on affordable housing, as a basis for public consultation. Presented to Fife Council Environment and Development Committee, 20 January 2005. Detailed guidance on the delivery of affordable housing in Fife. This guidance should be read in conjunction with “Fife Matters”, the consultative draft Structure Plan for Fife and Fife’s Local Housing Strategy (LHS). In particular the LHS forms a sound strategic basis for meeting housing challenges in the future whilst Fife Matters represents a bold and ambitious strategic land use planning framework for the next 20 years. Presented to Fife Council Environment and Development Committee, 6 September 2004. The purpose of the report is to advise members of the implication of the Local Housing Strategy for land use planning including Structure Plan and Local Plan policies and seek approval for the Council’s overall approach to addressing the need for Affordable Housing. Presented to Fife Council East Area Services Committee, 25 August 2004. The purpose of this report is to highlight the issues raised by communities and also by East Fife elected members at a seminar in June 2004 and to inform Fife Council’s developing Affordable Housing Policy. Remember, if you have any thoughts on this issue, or any local issue, please send feedback Feedback received will be used to regulate the coverage of this issue. more Planning Issues back to Local Issues back to Kingsbarns Community Council up to Top |
