St Andrews: ‘higgledy-piggledy’ street layout to stay say councillors

On Wednesday, the North East Area committee decided to keep the pandemic layout in South Street and Murray Place in place while design work for a permanent change continues behind the scenes. During lockdown, Fife Council removed 44 parking spaces from South Street to make room for outdoor seating areas for local bars and restaurants. Area councillors decided to keep those features in place while more permanent solutions are drawn up and designed.

Councillor David MacDiarmid (SNP) said the sooner St Andrews can get away from the cluttered look the better. However, he supported keeping the current layout in place while more permanent design plans are drawn.

“I find South Street very higgledy piggledy just now and I don’t really think it adds to the character of St Andrews,” he said. “If there was a more permanent solution that made it look like it was meant to be there rather than things stuck out in the middle of the pavement, I’m in favour of it but I think it looks out of place the way it's been done.”

However, council officers pointed out that changes to national town and country planning grant “permitted development rights” for placing furniture on public roads and footways next to cafes and restaurants for the purpose of commerce. In other words, even if Fife Council stripped away all of the temporary interventions, there would likely still be chairs and tables on pavements.

Councillor Jane Ann Liston (Lib-Dem) supported the decision to carry on with the temporary layout while officers go on with design and look for permanent solutions. “I really just want to get on with it,” she summarised.

Councillor Robin Lawson (Conservative) was the lone committee dissenter. He confirmed that 44 out of South Street’s 203 parking spaces have been removed as part of the current layout. The road generated approximately £385,000 in parking revenue in 2019/20.

“If you take away 20% of spaces, the council is likely to lose around £75,000 in revenue. That’s an awful lot of money. I think we should think twice before sacrificing that sort of revenue,” Cllr Lawson said.

However, parking revenue reductions are not unique to the town. Council officers said parking revenue across the Kingdom has seen more than 30% in reductions since the pandemic. In St Andrews, parking demand has not evaporated as a result of the current layout - drivers have merely migrated to other parking areas.

Despite Cllr Lawson’s objections, the committee approved the retention of the temporary footway extensions on South Street; agreed that officers should progress preliminary design for these spaces; and agreed that a permanent footway extension should be built in Murray Place to replace the temporary feature.

It is anticipated that advancing design work, seeking associated planning consent and tendering will cost around £50,000. Depending on the option selected by the public, construction costs could be in the order of £500,000. Officers say a funding solution would be required for the capital works to progress in the future, but for now the pandemic street measures are here to stay.