Golf club plans cause concern

Tom Chadwick, The Citizen, 12 July 2002

Fresh plans for a 184 acre £15 million golf club development at Feddinch Mains, on the outskirts of St Andrews, are in the pipeline - but St Andrews Preservation Trust still have concerns.

The development will incorporate an 18-hole golf course, a practice facility and 40 two-bedroom suite houses.

A previous planning application from the company was turned down by Fife Council amidst objections from Cameron Community Council and St Andrews Preservation Trust.

There were a number of objections over the size of the proposed development and its visual impact on the area.

But now company bosses have come back with revised plans which will see the development’s proposed size cut by half compared to the last application.

St Andrews International Golf Club Ltd. Secretary, Alistair Doig, said that concerns and comments which had been raised during the previous planning process had now been addressed by the company and he hoped the new application would meet with a favourable response.

He said: "The accommodation provision will be incorporated within the new clubhouse, as will the leisure facility, which will be located underground.”

“In terms of overall scale, the new proposal will be half of that which was formerly proposed for development at Scooniehill.”

The new application, which is said to have taken into account all of the comments from the last planning process, will be submitted before the end of August, but the new proposals have already met with an unfavourable response from St Andrews Preservation Trust.

Chairman, Elizabeth Williams, said: “We are concerned that the accommodation for 40 two bedroom suites is to be contained within the new clubhouse. While this sounds like a good idea to cut down on new building, the number of rooms necessary for so many suites will undoubtedly turn the clubhouse into nothing less than a sizeable hotel.”

Mr Doig pointed out that his company had taken into account the Green Belt Policy for St Andrews, a policy which regulated the amount of housing and buildings allowed on the outskirts of the town, and added that loss of prime agricultural land and new build in the countryside were not applicable to the application.

He added: “Account has also been taken of general concerns of visual impact of the development. With this in mind, landscape enhancement and mitigation measures will be undertaken to improve the visual amenity.”

“The site has been professionally assessed as being of low ecological value and there is consequently no doubt that the wildlife status will be significantly improved.”

“The development will provide a pleasant well-planned environment for members and their guests while also creating a new access to the countryside for the general public, who will be welcome to enjoy walking around the proposed periphery path.”

Mr Doig said that the development would give more protection against future development in that area than the Green Belt status because club members would enjoy playing rights there ‘in perpetuity’.