Kingask: ombudsman next step, hints Dewar

The Courier, 18 August 1999

Scotland's first minister Donald Dewar has said the local government ombudsman might be the next port of call or people who feel there has been maladministration in Fife Council’s handling of a planning application for a site near St Andrews.

The idea has been suggested in a letter from Mr Dewar to local MP Menzies Campbell who had pleaded for the £50 million Kingask project to be “called in” and determined at an independent public inquiry.

In his letter, Mr Dewar said the MP had clearly set out strong concerns of constituents, and added, “It is one thing for decisions to be taken locally, another for them to command the respect and confidence of local people.”

Mr Dewar said he had no locus in the matter after the formal letter of consent had been issued by Fife Council to the Kingask applicants, but he said he was grateful for the MP setting out his views and passing on representations he had received from constituents.

“The approach of central government to planning issues over many years has been that planning decisions should generally be taken by local planning authorities who are best placed to judge in what circumstances a planning consent should be granted or refused.

“There are circumstances in which it is necessary to call in an application for study or decision by local government, but this is only done when there are clear and over-riding reasons, for example if a development would impact on areas which had been designated as of national importance.

“But the general principal, and it is a very important one, is that central government should not intervene in local decisions unless it is absolutely necessary. Although they are very significant for St Andrews, as I well appreciate, the proposals do not impact in that way so I believe it must be right for them to be dealt with locally.”

Mr Dewar said he was aware Scottish Natural Heritage and Historic Scotland had expressed concerns to the planning authority about the Kingask development. It was useful, he added, for planning authorities to have access to the views and expertise of these national agencies but their involvement did not automatically trigger intervention by ministers.

“You have set out very clearly the strong concerns which your constituents have about these issues,” he wrote.

“For the reasons I have explained it would be wrong for me to take sides or intervene in that dispute but if your constituents believe there has been maladministration by the council they may wish to consider approaching the local government ombudsman to establish whether or not he would be prepared to investigate the matter.”

Mr Dewar concluded that, while he appreciated that the MP’s constituents might wish that ministers were not subject to the constraints he had mentioned, he hoped they had been set out clearly. “We do appreciate how strongly local people feel about these issues”, he said.