Residents to have say on Kingask

Michael Alexander, The Courier, 18 Mar 2000

The £50 million hotel, golf and leisure complex being constructed at Kingask, near St Andrews, seems to have hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons over the past 18 months.

From allegations that Fife Council granted planning permission illegally to claims that the developer consistently breached council conditions over the volume of construction traffic, many residents and councillors have expressed dismay that public opinion has often seemingly been cast aside.

But now Fife Council is set to back a move which aims to keep lines of communication open between the local community and the St Andrews Bay Development Company.

A liaison committee has been set up to give residents the opportunity to hear the latest happenings on site at the development and how future works are likely to affect residents in the surrounding area.

The committee, which has already met once, has been established to allow residents to raise concerns about Kingask directly with the developer.

Chairman of Fife Council's strategic development committee, Councillor Bill Brand, explained yesterday that the new liaison committee is made up of representatives from Boarhills and Dunino Community Council, St Andrews Community Council, local Fife councillor Peter Douglas, chairwoman of the council's east area development committee, Francis Melville, planning spokesman Bill Kay and representatives from St Andrews Bay Development Company.

Mr Brand said, "liaison committees have proved very useful in the past when major developments are on the go. We're keen to see useful relationships formed between the developer and the local community and believe this is a positive move for all concerned."

East area development committee chairwoman Francis Melville, who has been critical of the council's stance on many Kingask issues, said, "We have responded to requests from the community for this forum and have had an initial meeting which went well. There was a need for a venue where people can speak about Kingask issues. I hope the liaison committee will be seen as a catalyst for future decisions and will prove an important voice in the life of this development."

Mr Brand said that when the council's strategic development committee meets on Monday, it would also be clarified how many HGV trips are allowed in and out of the Kingask site following discussions with the developers.

In recent months there has been considerable controversy over the actions of the developers, who used lorry numbers far in excess of the original agreement.

Although Fife Council had been heavily critical of proceedings and had prepared papers for court action, the threat was lifted after a new deal was reached between the council and the developers, claiming that lorry trips would exceed 20 per day until June with a maximum of 35 trips per day having been set. From then on until the end of construction in April 2001, there would be fewer than 20.

Mr Brand added yesterday, "We remain committed to the previous decision of the strategic development committee when it was agreed to allow an average of 20 trips per day to the site. The developers, at their own expense, are constructing a concrete batching plant to cut down the number of trips."

Mr Brand said St Andrews Bay Development Ltd had agreed to pay £11,000 to meet the cost of damage caused to local roads and the company, the council had been assured, would take responsibility for any further expenses involved in repairing roads.

Councillors will also be brought up to date next week with progress on the Kingask judicial review, now concluded in the Court of Session, with a decision expected by the end of next week.

After several days of submissions heard by Lord Bonomy over the past two months, members of the St Andrews-based Review Funding Association are waiting anxiously to see if their legal challenge against the granting of planning consent by the local authority will succeed.

The council has contested the claims and maintained it has fulfilled all the statutory duties.

While it still remains to be seen what the outcome of this judicial review will be, which could theoretically lead to work being stopped at the site, Mr Brand expressed hope that everyone could start moving forward and put the "negativity" surrounding the issue behind.

He concluded, "A lot of jobs are going to be created as a result of this development which, I am sure, will prove an asset for St Andrews and Fife."