PROPOSED NEW HOSPITAL FOR ST ANDREWS

NUMEROUS SITE WARNINGS IGNORED

Community Council involvement in the new hospital saga goes back to December 1993. Repeatedly it has warned successive health trusts that choosing a hospital site on the southern hillside would provoke major planning problems, including a renewed threat of the Muir Group building up to 1000 houses there. For many years, we had seats at the table, and, in particular, provided input for the Outline Business Case for the hospital. In 2003, the NHS went its own way, effectively excluded us from the team, and chose the Largo Road site. Repeated requests for the detailed reasons for the choice were left unanswered. We now find that some of the reasons were very flimsy indeed, perhaps making the long silence more understandable.

IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE SITE?

Since 1993 the Community Council has played a key role in helping to prevent the St Leonards Fields site being used for housing. This stance has met with wide popular support. In July 2003, the NHS declared St Leonards Fields to be a nonstarter, but the point was never proven. Last November, the NHS’s application acknowledged St Leonards Fields as the ‘preferred location of Fife Council’. Since then, in the Local Plan, Fife Council has switched allegiance, reversing a position it is believed to have held for 10 years.

IS ST LEONARDS FIELDS VIABLE?

It was argued in the 1990s that the St Leonards Fields ite was too small, but the arguments were weak, and in 2002 it became the preferred site. In 2003 the consultants Jones, Lang Lasalle used various arguments to attempt to exclude it. We were not beyond persuasion, had a compelling case been made. Like most such reports, however, the case appeared to be selected to justify a pre-chosen conclusion. The main factor in the mind of the NHS is probably cost, but this will depend on whether St Leonards Fields is zoned for housing in the Local Plan.

WOULD A CHANGE OF SITE CAUSE DELAY?

The Community Council warned repeatedly that choice of a controversial site would delay the project. Fife Council has to assess whether the Environmental Assessment meets the requirements of the European legislation, and this is doubtful. It seems unlikely that the submitted plans can be accepted in their current form. As the Green Belt Forum has noted, the buildings would loom over the Largo Rd, creating an ‘industrial tunnel’ at this entrance to the town. Having waited 12 years, the town should not be panicked into acceptance, but should ensure a satisfactory solution is found.

SOME OF THE PROBLEMS WITH THE LARGO ROAD SITE

• Losing a swathe of the southern hillside between the Largo Rd site and Grange Road. Following the choice of the Largo Road site, the draft Local Plan designates some of this land for industry, and makes a whole swathe of this Area of Great Landscape Value vulnerable to future development.
• Resurrecting Muir’s rejected proposal. The Muir Group’s provision of part of the land suggests it sees the hospital as the Trojan Horse, opening up the southern hillside not for industry but for housing.
• Less convenient than St Leonards Fields for those parts of town where car ownership levels are lowest. Diverting buses is possible, but more expensive for patients.
• Blighting the view of the southern hillside with buildings, and also a large car park, bus-turning area and possible park-and-ride.
• Increased traffic dangers on Lamond Drive which many of those travelling from the East Neuk to the site would use. In the 1990s the Council spent £250,000 remodelling Lamond Drive to make it safer following a fatality.
• Pulling trade from the town centre stores. The knock-on effects would include a boost to Morrisons at the expense of the town centre.
• Loss of a designated light industrial site which forms part of the proposed site. It is not clear where a suitable replacement can be put.
• Too close to the Largo Road TETRA mast. This seems ill-advised when an increasing number of people fear it may be a health risk.

We owe it to future generations to

SAVE THE SOUTHERN HILLSIDE

if there is an alternative site.

Send your comments on the Largo Road application to

Ms E Cook
Fife Council
County Buildings
Cupar
KY15 4TA