Villages may fill shortfall in housing

Gordon Berry, The Courier, 27 January 2005

Constant pressure for developing new homes in St Andrews could be tackled by directing future growth to the nearby communities of Leuchars and Guardbridge, according to the first draft of the St Andrews and East Fife local plan.

The plan, which is going out to wide community consultation, will serve as a blueprint for development over most of north-east Fife for 20 years.

A number of specific proposals for the first 10 years up to 2018 have been revealed in the draft and it is clear Leuchars and Guardbridge are seen as playing an important role.

The report points out that the main St Andrews to Dundee road, passing through both communities, is a key transport route linking St Andrews and the East Neuk with Dundee and north-east Scotland, other areas of Fife and the central belt.

“Within this transport corridor, Leuchars and Guardbridge have been identified as places which can expand to take advantage of the area’s road and rail connections to promote it as a location for new development investment,” said the report.

It is expected there will be a number of schemes for the area, with St Andrews being relieved of some housing-led development pressure and employment and community needs also being taken into account.

It has been stated that housing should be mixed and include affordable homes.

The document has identified potential allocations of land for development and sees Leuchars as providing almost 250 houses and Guardbridge 190 in the period to 2016 alone.

Other suggestions in the plan include general industrial, storage and distribution businesses on a site at Main Street in Leuchars and an extension to the car park at the railway station.

It is also pointed out that the council will be working with the Ministry of Defence and Scottish Enterprise to consider potential commercial development on land at RAF Leuchars identified as surplus to operational requirements.

In relation to Guardbridge, the document states that the community relies on Curtis Fine Papers as the principal source of employment and land has been identified for the development, which includes business and community units apart from housing.

These developments would make a positive contribution to the village and would capitalise on the ready access to the rail station and strategic road links.