Plan for a seventh golf course raises questions

Gordon Berry, The Courier, 7 February 2004

Fife Council seems likely to seek further detailed information from St Andrews Links Trust about three separate issues relating to the body’s plans for creating a seventh public golf course on land just outside the town.

Demonstration of demand for the course, the impact on the local economy and tourist trade, and the traffic impact on St Andrews itself were all highlighted by a senior Fife Council planning official at the end of a lengthy public meeting in Boarhills.

East area team leader Nick Brian also said that at this stage he was unable to say when the application would come before the council for a decision.

The hearing was held as part of the planning process relating to application for formation of an 18-hole golf course, clubhouse and maintenance facilities at Brownhills Farm and Kinkell Farm.

The session was held so that applicants, objectors and supporters could make submissions publicly before council officials make any recommendation to the east area development committee.

During the wide-ranging submissions a number of different issues were covered, with the links trust accused at the meeting of presenting Its own “dodgy dossier” to justify its case.

Other matters given prominence by both sides of the argument were the green belt debate, the issue of the application possibly being premature in advance of completion of the new local plan for the area, the effect on the landscape, and the impact on crucial views both into and out of the town.

During the evening meeting, Boarhills and Dunino Community Council expressed support for the project. But there was opposition from nearby St Andrews Community Council, which has raised several different issues.

In addition representatives of the St Andrews Hotel and Guest House Association and the Scottish Incoming Golf Tour Operators Association turned up at the meeting to publicly press the case for the commission of an independent economic impact assessment.

This call has been echoed by the Kingdom of Fife Tourist Board, the St Andrews Merchants and St Andrews Community Council.

There was considerable debate about the statistics supplied by the trust and the claim that there is proven demand for the new course.

The trust’s planning consultant, Harry McNab, said that the “driving reason” for the development was the need for golfers to continue to enjoy a world class golfing experience when they came to St Andrews.

He said that recent figures show no tail-off in demand, but rather the constraints under which the trust is operating. At the moment there had to be a limit placed on the amount of rounds played, he said.

It was also claimed by the trust’s external relations manager, Peter Mason, that the courses had been playing close to capacity, and the growth in demand was entirely from local golfers.

Mr Mason said the number of people on the growing current waiting list for links tickets could account for almost half of the tee times which would be available on the new course.

One of the tour operators who attended the meeting, Gary Wilkinson of Wilkinson Golf and Leisure, who is also chairman of the Scottish Incoming Golf Tour Operators Association, pointed to a drop in visitor numbers.

The operators have claimed that St Andrews is becoming an increasingly expensive place for clients to play golf.

Mr Wilkinson highlighted figures for 2000 which showed 1399 rounds played on the New and Jubilee courses by 4248 of the 8068 visitors brought to Scotland by the association members.

Last year the total number of the association’s visitors was 8039, the number who came to St Andrews was 3663, and rounds played on the New and Jubilee had dropped to by over two-thirds to 433.

The operators, he said, were in an unrivalled position to comment on trends, and said at the moment visitor growth was stagnant or even in slight decline.

“So much has changed since September 11 that ignoring the most recent years destabiises the financial position of any development related to tourism, including the seventh course,” he said.