Golf course plan receives boost

The Courier, 28 August 2003

Proposals by St Andrews Links Trust to develop a new multi-million pound golf course on the edge of the town have received a significant boost with the news that a leading conservation pressure group is not planning to object to the initiative.

Members of St Andrews Preservation Trust have discussed the development of the cliff-top course on the outskirts of the town and, according to vice-chairman Ian Christie, have given “a guarded acceptance” to the project.

The news is sure to be welcomed by the links trust, which administers the town’s current six golf courses, including the Old Course, and which over recent weeks has heard calls from two leading members in the industry for the provision of a special economic impact study as part of the planning process.

In addition, the two figures, Jonathan Stapleton, general manager of the Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa In St Andrews, and David Scott, director of golf at Kingsbarns links, have also questioned the need for another public course in St Andrews.

Commenting on the development plans, Mr Christie said, “While the trustees have not seen the detailed proposals, I believe there has been a guarded acceptance of the scheme, although there have been reservations expressed by some members.

“There is some concern of the necessity for another course and if the figures justify it. Others are also worried about the increase in the level of traffic to the east of the town.

“However, by and large, the trust would not object to the proposal for the new course—with the usual proviso that we see the final detailed plans.

Mr Christie said that the figures produced by the links trust seemed to support the view that the existing courses will be nearing “their saturation point” in the foreseeable future and it was necessary to make the extra provision now.

He added, “It is increasingly difficult to get a starting time when you want, so the links trust has to be forward-looking. Also, a major factor in the general consensus of the trust that we would not object is if there will be no ancillary residential developments involved on the site, which is obviously more acceptable.

“The proposed clubhouse and other buildings seem to be blending into the surrounding area and nothing will break the horizon, for example.

“Indeed, from St Andrews harbour the clubhouse would be below the level of the St Andrews Bay Hotel However, the trust may have more difficulty in camouflaging the car park and we hope it will be suitably landscaped.”

The links’ administrators recently mounted an exhibition focusing on the proposals for a seventh course as part of its consultation exercise.

Covering such issues as the course layout, landscape character, the need for the course and visibility, the exhibition attracted great interest.

The purchase of the land for the seventh course under its administration was concluded by the trustees earlier this year after many months of negotiation.

The 200-acre site is the farmland at Brownhills and Kinkell to the southeast of St Andrews, around a mile from the town centre. It Is a cliff-top location, but does not include the cliffs, the braes or the coastal footpath.

Plans for a seventh golf course at the world’s largest public golfing complex come in response to increasing demand to play the links from local golfers, in particular over the last decade.