Bosses look into option of new golf course

The Courier, 12 March 2003

Golf bosses in St Andrews have started preparation of the detailed assessment of the potential environmental effects of their plans to develop a seventh course on the outskirts of the town.

St Andrews Links Trust recently completed negotiations to purchase over 200 acres of farmland at Brownhills and Kinkell to the south-east of St Andrews, around one mile from the town centre, for the proposed new 18-hole course. It is a clifftop location, but the area now under the trust’s control does not include the cliffs, the braes or the coastal footpath.

Alan McGregor, general manager of the trust, explained yesterday that the trustees had now received the specification from Fife Council’s planning department detailing the areas they have to consider in the environmental statement.

He said, “Preparing the statement is a major undertaking and a very important first step in a rigorous planning process. During its preparation we shall be seeking meetings with organisations who have contributed to the specification, as well as with other local bodies, especially the golf clubs.

“We shall be covering transport issues, the ecology of the area, landscape and visual issues, water and drainage, the economic impact, the effect on heritage assets such as the setting of St Andrews and any archaeological sites, and the sustainability of the development, as well as explaining the need for the extra capacity.”

The existing six courses administered by the trust - five 18-hole and one nine-hole set-ups in St Andrews - have been under pressure for years, with the total number of rounds played almost reaching the full capacity limit in 2001 at 215,000.

Mr McGregor added, ‘Last year the slight drop in visitors caused play to fall marginally to the second highest-ever total of 211,000, but local rounds played actually rose, despite the very wet weather.”

The St Andrews links - the jewel in the crown is the championship Old Course - is the largest public golf complex in the world and the trustees have pledged that the new public course will be a “high quality” facility.