Attempting to make a fast buck

Sir, – Claims that proposals for a hotel and student accommodation at Abbey Park “address a clear and identified need” cannot go unchallenged.

There are at least three other hotel proposals in the pipeline for St Andrews, including one for a budget hotel only a couple of hundred yards away from the existing Premier Inn in Largo Road.

Even if another mid-range hotel was required, Abbey Park must surely be the least suitable site in the town.

Access is via a narrow tree-lined road with passing places leading to an existing mixed residential complex.

The proposed hotel entrance is directly opposite a retirement block where elderly residents frequently require wheelchair and ambulance assistance.

Imagine the chaos if upwards of 200 plus motorists were to join this already-busy single lane road.

Claims that there are around 4,000 students unable to access dedicated student accommodation are equally bogus.

Addressing St Andrews Preservation Trust last week, university principal Sally Mapstone advised that the university was well able to cope with foreseeable student residence demand.

This ill-conceived plan has been hanging over the heads of Abbey Park residents since it was first mooted over a year ago.

Fife planners and councillors should check the facts and turf out this attempt to make a fast buck out of St Andrews. Ted Brocklebank. Abbey Park, St Andrews.

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