Leisure decisions may be taken out of local hands

The Courier, 25 March 1999

Debate over the future of golf course and leisure development in and around St Andrews has taken a new turn with a move which could see current and future applications taken out of the hands of local councillors.

It has been revealed that the controversial £50 million Kingask application, £18 million plans for Scooniehill and another major application yet to be submitted for land at Feddinch could be dealt with together at a special meeting in Glenrothes similar to one which recently decided competing major quarrying applications.

The whole issue has been raised in a report from head of planning Mr David Rae for next weeks meeting of the council’s strategic development committee, even though the application for Feddinch has not yet lodged. It is still at an informal discussion stage with officials and councillors who have seen plans.

It has been rumoured that the application is much larger in scale than the Kingask plan, which itself has been criticised in some quarters because of its potential impact.

In recent months there have been calls for an overview of the whole subject of pressure from developers for such projects, and these calls were repeated in the wake of the recent refusal of the Kingask plans by the East Area development committee.

The applicants, St Andrews Bay Development Ltd, have lodged an appeal with the Scottish Office, and have also submitted a new, more detailed application.

This now goes beyond the new build hotel and conference centre complex, and includes development at the steading which was the subject of the original outline consent for hotel and leisure facilities, provision of a golf clubhouse and creation of over 300 parking spaces.

A previous attempt to have the Kingask application called in to the centre of council was rejected in what was at the time described as a test for the council’s declared policy of decentralisation.

The application was eventually narrowly rejected after concerns were raised about size, scale and impact of the proposals, and the potential effect of traffic on the town centre.

In his report for next week’s meeting, Mr Rae has pointed out that there was already an outline planning consent for a hotel and two golf courses at Kingask, and the council was currently considering an outline application for Scooniehill.

“Furthermore, there is the prospect of another golf-related development at Feddinch, St Andrews. It is anticipated that an outline planning application will be submitted very shortly,” he said.

Mr Rae added that Fife Council had responsibility for both strategic and local planning matters. He said it had been recognised there would be occasions where the scale and content of an application or series of similar applications “taken together” would require to be determined by the strategic development committee.

The most recent example, he said, was the applications for hard rock quarrying in various locations in Fife.

The official said that the strategic development committee had sought the views of the area committees, had held hearings, and had convened a special meeting to determine the quarry applications.

In the case of St Andrews, said Mr Rae, there was no doubt that there was a strategic interest, because there were “multiple planning applications,” a requirement for assessment against national planning policy and transport strategy, and a requirement to assess the applications against structure plan policy and resolve potential conflicts.

Mr Rae also said that there were potential impacts in market, supply/demand, employment and training issues, a need to assess the applications in the context of the St Andrews Transportation Strategy and the St Andrews Strategic Study and the call for a strategic overview.

The official said that development plan departure hearings would have to be held, although these could be at local venues, and he has recommended that, if necessary, arrangements should be made for a special meeting of the strategic development committee.

Because of the background of the impending elections, he said, it might be advisable to allow an ”element of flexibility.”

Mr Rae’s report and recommendation for a call-in is to be considered by the strategic development committee early next week.

His recommendation has come only three weeks after he told local councillor Frances Melville that It would be “sensible to let the dust settle in the wake of Kingask.”

The councillor had at that time called for an overview, but Mr Rae, who had also been asked to attend meetings with the community council and preservation trust, said a here was no need to rush into another strategic study or non-statutory development plan.

He said he did not feel that a round table meeting should be immediately convened, because it might raise expectations beyond reasonable levels and could cause confusion for residents, Fife Council services, external agencies and potential developers.