Call for £300,000 improvement programme to be postponed.

PLANNING: Raft of improvement works to take place at Lade Braes in St Andrews after council green lights investment

The concerns should of course be noted... But we should be celebrating the fact that we’ve pulled this together.

COUNCILLOR NEIL CROOKS

A residents’ group called for a £300,000 programme of improvements to a St Andrews beauty spot to be postponed because of concerns about cycling students colliding with elderly pedestrians on it.

Councillors on the region’s community and housing services committee have agreed to invest £100,000 in the Lade Braes project.

This comes on top of £150,000 already committed from Sustrans and £50,000 from the St Andrews Common Good.

The £300,000 will be used to upgrade to the existing path, with broken seats replaced, signage improved, new litter bins installed, solar lighting provided and some minor tree work carried out.

Improvements could begin as early as November, and the work should be completed by April 2020 if all goes to plan.

Howe of Fife and Tay Coast Conservative councillor Andy Heer pointed out that committee members had received an email from the Confederation of St Andrews Residents Association the night prior to the decision being taken, highlighting a number of concerns about cycling on the route and calling on councillors to defer a decision on the funding.

The email noted there had been a number of collisions between elderly residents and students cycling to and from town, and suggested the council would be guilty of “maladministration” if it did not take the issues into account.

However council officials stressed that all of the issues raised had been fully explored and the funding was unanimously approved.

Kirkcaldy Labour councillor Neil Crooks said: “The concerns should of course be noted, we should always listen to people’s concerns.

“But we should be celebrating the fact that we’ve pulled this together and the fact £300,000 is to be spent on this project.”

And he joked: “If they are not too keen on it, we can always move it somewhere else.”

SNP councillor Lesley Backhouse, who convened the committee in fellow councillor Judy Hamilton’s absence, said: “We’re trying to get more of our residents walking and cycling and we’ve got a lot of shared pavements now.

“Our accident rates have reduced quite dramatically across Fife as people are taking more care and paying more attention to other users.”

The path works will stretch for around one and a half miles from the entrance to Cockshaugh Park to access at Little Carron Gardens.

Lade Mill at Lade Braes, where the improvements are to take place.