Backing for hotel complex opposers

The Courier, 3 January 2000

The association for the Protection of Rural Scotland has given its “100% backing” to the group fighting to stop the £50 million hotel, conference, golf and leisure development under construction at Kingask, near St Andrews.

There are just 10 days to go until the St Andrews based Review Funding Association challenges Fife Council at a hearing in the Court of Session.

The group is seeking a judicial review of the granting of planning permission to St Andrews Bay Development Ltd.

It is claiming that the local authority acted illegally during the planning process.

A £100,000 fund-raising appeal launched by the group in a bid to cover the possible legal costs involved in the challenge is currently around the £55,000 mark.

The group claims that the council failed to consider properly the impact the development would have on the environment.

It also claims that the council made a significant departure from development plans without notifying the Scottish Secretary.

Yesterday a spokeswoman for the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland said she hoped the funding association’s legal challenge would succeed.

She said, “APRS is 100% behind this very brave group of individuals from St Andrews who have chosen to fight ‘Mr Big Developer.’

“We get involved in many cases where small community groups suffer when confronted by power and finance.

“We applaud this group for pushing things all the way."

The spokeswoman claimed the Kingask situation had become even more “bizarre” when it was considered that Fife Council had recently rejected hotel applications at Kinkell on the outskirts of St Andrews and at Edenside, near Guardbridge.

She said the environmental grounds for rejecting these hotels should have applied, but did not appear to have applied, when the Kingask application was considered.

Surprise has already been expressed by councillors over apparent differences in planning officials’ interpretation of these policies.

Further criticism was levelled last week when the developer behind the rejected budget-style hotel at Kinkell claimed that the council had shown clear inconsistency by “driving a coach and horses through every single policy there is” to approve the massive Kingask development.

Fife Council’s head of planning David Rae expressed surprise at these comments and claimed that one application should not be compared with another.

The Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland spokeswoman said she would “await with interest” the outcome of the saga.

The Court of Session hearing is due to take place on January 12 or 13.