Proposed retirement village in St Andrews is ‘at odds’ with town

Local groups say scheme would encroach on greenbelt land and does not fit with area’s architecture

A retirement village proposed for the edge of St Andrews would encroach on the town’s greenbelt, opponents claim.

A 46-home scheme will be built where Grange House stood if developer First Scot is given the go ahead.

Local groups have objected to the planning application, which has yet to be determined by Fife Council.

Both St Andrews Preservation Trust and the Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council have raised concerns that the land, off Grange Road, lies in the greenbelt.

The community council also alleges the nine two-and-a-half-storey blocks, described by the applicant as a highquality development, would be an ugly and jarring addition to the townscape.

Planning convener Penny Uprichard said in her objection to the council: “The site is in the St Andrews greenbelt which has been designated since the planning permission in 2006 quoted by the applicants.

“The description of the application includes the phrase ‘apartment blocks’.

“Virtually all recent applications in St Andrews consist of blocks, which are presumably the cheapest to design and hold the largest number of residents.

“They are also ugly, and at odds with the traditional architecture in St Andrews.”

The preservation trust said none of the criteria required for development in the greenbelt had been met and that the village would mean an overdevelopment of the site.

However, First Scot said that its proposal was wholly consistent with the principles of the greenbelt, which constrains development to protect the town’s landscape setting, character and identity.

It said the retirement hamlet, which would have its own bowling green, pavilion and lawns, would be well screened and would not protrude into the wider countryside.

The applicant also said planning permission issued in 2007 for a hotel on the site, which never materialised, established the principle for residential development.

Grange House, which was targeted by vandals, was demolished in February 2017 on safety grounds on the advice of police and the council.

“Virtually all recent applications in St Andrews consist of blocks. PENNY UPRICHARD

Picture: Steve MacDougall. The area in which the retirement village would be built if backed.