Councillor criticises 'ill advised' resign call

The Courier, 18 February 1999

A suggestion that a member of the Kingdom of Fife Tourist Board should resign due to his involvement in the body responsible for rejecting the £50 million St Andrews hotel package at Kingask, has been criticised by a leading Fife councillor.

Liberal Democrat Andrew Arbuckle, who represents the Auchtermuchty and Strathmiglo ward, reckons that the comments made by Labour councillor John Cameron were “ill advised and inappropriate.”

At Monday’s tourist board meeting, Mr Cameron said that Councillor Peter Douglas, who is chairman of Fife Council’s east area development committee and a tourist board member, “should be leaving his position on the board in light of the Kingask decision and his involvement in that particular decision.”

But in a letter to Fife Council administration leader Christine May, Councillor Arbuckle has expressed “extreme disappointment” at Mr Cameron’s outburst.

Mr Arbuckle claimed, “Mr Cameron has obviously failed in his responsibility as a councillor to understand that the role of the planning committee member and the role of someone on an outside body are entirely separate. It would not be legal for a member to take into account any considerations other than planning issues.”

Mr Arbuckle continued, “I sincerely hope that you will curb your colleagues in their ill advised and inappropriate comments. They do little to support the diligence and effort given by those on the east area development committee in determining this issue.”