Call for court action to halt breaches

Gordon Berry, The Courier, 19 Feb 2000

Fife Council should take immediate court action to force the developers behind the £50 million resort and golf course complex at Kingask to abide by the terms of a legal agreement which governs the number of construction lorries using the site.

This was said yesterday by the chair of the authority’s east area development committee, Councillor Frances Melville, in the wake of more heavy criticism of the actions of St Andrews Bay Development Ltd.

Over the past few weeks there has been controversy over the fact that the terms of a detailed legal agreement have been breached on a regular basis. It has become clear during an official council traffic count that on one day last week five times the agreed number of vehicles had been seen entering and leaving the site.

It has already been revealed that unauthorised routes were used, that damage is already being caused to local roads and that the developers will have to pay for this. Costs estimated for damage done and anticipated have been estimated at £30,000.

In addition, although the council had initially noted that Lamond Drive in St Andrews had not been facing heavy traffic, figures now show that there were 83 movements there in a single day.

The issue was raised at this week’s meeting of the council in Glenrothes, when it was made clear by one of the top Labour administration councillors, Bill Brand, that court proceedings had been prepared and that papers would be served on the developer as a matter of urgency if the situation was not brought to a conclusion.

It was also made clear to councillors that convenor John MacDougall has now gone over the head of those in charge at Kingask to raise his concerns directly with US-based company head Don Panoz. He said he believed that Mr Panoz was “not aware of what was going on.”

Yesterday, however, Councillor Melville said that time for delay was now past and that from the point of view of perception and credibility she would be concerned if immediate action was not taken.

“It was laid on the line to the developers at the strategic development committee last month that they must take account of this agreement. At that time it was made clear that the matter was being taken very seriously by the council.

“Fife Council has bent over backwards to accommodate them but they have continued to breach this agreement, and we now have to ask what other option the council has.”

Councillor Melville said that the community council had now asked specific questions about the legal agreement, monitoring, roads being used and what enforcement action would be taken.

“If court action is only way to sort this out then so be it. The section 75 legal agreement was presented to us as a crucial factor in approval being given for this application.

“Great play was made of the powers the council would have if things went wrong, and we now have to use these powers.

“There are implications for the whole future of section 75 agreements and the conditions laid down in them. If we cannot control and monitor this situation we will be a laughing stock the next time around.”

Yesterday Harry Tait, a legal official of the council, said that there was “extreme urgency” in the situation and that legal action could be taken in a matter of days.

He said that a meeting of officials was to be held early on Monday but he felt that if satisfactory agreement could not be reached with the developers the council would be in court.