Former Fife high school could become housing

At the north east area committee on Wednesday, many councillors echoed sentiments that the Kilrymont site of Madras College in St Andrews could be converted.

The discussions arose as part of a framework to advertise the site to potential developers, as the land will be surplus once the new school opens in 2021.

Cllr Tony Miklinski asked at the meeting: “We are talking about various different options here, and one obvious requirement could be affordable housing. To what extent can we give guidance or priority over what we need?”

Ewan Campbell, planning officer, said: “At this stage the role of planning is to just advise. The council is currently in the process of looking at disposal of the site. We need to work with the council and planning to make sure any developments meet the FifePlan.

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“But where we’re sitting at the moment is to set design principles for future development, as it’s currently classed for education purposes.”

Cllr Brian Thompson agreed that he would prefer to see the buildings demolished and affordable housing built on the site, saying: “There is a huge need for it in St Andrews.”

All the buildings on the site are currently Category B-Listed and need to be advertised before Historic Environment Scotland would consider a proposal to knock them down. That could be one to two years, depending on the importance of the site.

Cllr Linda Holt raised the question of why Fife Council didn’t take on the land itself to build council homes, “given there is such a need for affordable housing across the whole of Fife”.

Cllr Karen Marjoram also noted her personal preference to demolish the site and turn it into affordable housing, adding: “I know we have a process to go through. Theoretically, however, in an ideal world we would get affordable council housing.”