Council rejects calls for review of college site saga

FIFE Council has rejected calls for an independent review of the Madras College saga, insisting it would be a waste of time and effort.

Council leader David Ross said the commissioning of a further inquiry into five years of wrangling over the Pipeland site in St Andrews was unnecessary given a suitable site had now been found.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats voted down a motion from SNP councillors Ian Ferguson and David McDiarmid, who insisted a review would ensure the local authority learned lessons on how significant capital projects were considered. The SNP described the result as “hugely disappointing”, stating that £3.2 million had already been spent on the long-awaited new school with nothing to show for it.

Councillor Ferguson, who proposed the motion, said: “It is hugely disappointing that Labour, the Lib Dems and Independents feel there is nothing to be learned from wasting £3.2m.”

Fife Council began pursuing Pipeland as the preferred option for the single-site secondary school in 2012 after negotiations for university-owned land at Langlands fell through. It was forced back to the drawing board in March after a successful legal challenge by campaign group Stepal.

Mr Ross announced last week that the council was now close to securing a deal with St Andrews University for the original Langlands site, although the project is expected to be £5m overspent at £40m.

St Andrews Labour councillor Brian Thomson branded the SNP motion “petty party politics” saying: “It was completely pathetic

“All the information, including the costs, are out there in the public domain.”

The South Street campus.