Another salvo fired off in golf plans row

Michael Alexander, The Courier, 15 June 1999

With just days to go until special hearings are held to consider multi-million pound golf and leisure developments for St Andrews, the town’s four councillors have united to fire another salvo at Fife Council over the timetable and “procedural folly” of the meetings.

Frances Melville, Sheila Hill, Jane Hunter-Blair and Jane Ann Liston said yesterday that they remained angry that the three departure hearings are to be held In the town hall at the same time as the RAF Leuchars march past is staged to celebrate its freedom of the burgh.

The councillors also expressed concern that Fife Council’s east area development committee has not formally been advised as a group that the hearings are taking place.

The situation was highlighted yesterday by Councillor Melville, who explained that it had been recommended and agreed at the council’s central strategic development committee in Glenrothes on March 29 that details of the hearings should be formally reported to the east area development committee in Cupar at its next meeting. The first available opportunity was last Tuesday but no mention of the forthcoming hearings was made on that agenda.

Mrs Melville, who represents the St Andrews West and Strathkinness ward, said the upshot of this had been that only four members of the 16-strong east area development committee who serve on the strategic development committee - herself, Peter Douglas, Andrew Arbuckle and Jane Ann Liston - had been made aware of the hearings in a council setting.

While acknowledging that east area development members had since been personally advised of the departure hearings by council letter on June 4, she said the situation was “crazy” when it was considered that these developments could change the face of St Andrews and therefore councillors should be given every opportunity to discuss the matter as a group.

Further strong criticism came from St Andrews South member Sheila Hill who said she remained “livid” about the situation.

She said the clash between the meeting and the parade made it difficult for councillors, who were expected to be in two places at once.

She said the situation was also causing problems for other community leaders who wanted to outline their position on the development schemes for Kingask, Feddinch and Scooniehill.

That aside, a meeting of the council’s regulation committee, again involving east area councillors, had been scheduled for the same day, but is now to be held on Friday.

Fife Council’s law and administration strategic and policy development manager Harry Tait confirmed last night that individual members of the east area development committee were personally advised of the departure hearings on June 4.

He said the members were also advised that the area development committee would have the opportunity to make known its views on the planning applications, following the hearings, when it meets on June 29. The views of the committee would then be made known to the strategic development committee on July 7.