Controversial St Andrews street plans discussed at public meeting

The meeting, held last week, included councillors, representatives from traders and the community to discuss the Spaces for People proposals in St Andrews.

Earlier this month Fife Council was awarded £2.42m from the Scottish Government’s Spaces for People fund, managed by Sustrans, which is focused on making essential travel and exercise safer.

Proposals for St Andrews include parking removed on Bell Street and Church Street, and Market Street closed to vehicles. The plans received criticism from local businesses, which fear the changes could make it more difficult for shoppers to get into the town centre, at a time when businesses are recovering from the Covid-19 lockdown.

Fife Council is still in the early stages of progressing this programme. Input from local communities and businesses is vital to agree preferred solutions.

Councillor Dominic Nolan welcomed the meeting.

“I am glad that council officers recognise the need to greatly involve the public in drawing up the correct proposals for the Spaces for People fund,” he said.

“Some of the initial proposals were totally inappropriate and would have been both highly damaging for businesses and could have prevented isolated individuals from being able to access the town centre.

“The pedestrianisation of the town centre is a controversial proposal under normal circumstances but it would be particularly damaging to businesses to suddenly introduce it in these extraordinary times. I would encourage everyone with views or ideas as to how this fund can be used to make our town safer for social distancing to get in touch. Engagement with the public must be extensive and ongoing as the government’s Covid-19 restrictions and advice continue to adapt.”

Councillor Altany Craik, convener for Economy, Tourism, Strategic Planning and Transportation Committee, added: “Thank you to everyone who contributed to the discussion regarding this programme.

“I would like to emphasise that community and economic recovery is at the forefront of the Spaces for People programme and is focussed on helping people, towns and villages function more easily and safely as we progress through the phases of the Governments route map. We’re working with locals to share these outline proposals and have asked for feedback from the community and businesses on ideas they think would help. We look forward to continuing to work with the community to agree measures.

“In many areas with limited shop space, queues are forming outside premises, so we need to consider making changes to help recovery. Thanks to this funding we’ve already been able to put some early interventions into place with more to follow.”