Frances Melville has demanded a public apology from Fife Council chief executive Steve Grimmond, after a special meeting to discuss plans for the proposed Madras College at Pipeland in St Andrews descended into “farce”.
Councillor Melville, the chairman of Fife Council’s north east Fife planning committee, has written to Mr Grimmond to express “anger and astonishment” that the council’s education service only presented new information about its application to the planning service late last Friday afternoon.
As reported by The Courier on Tuesday, the revelation led to Monday night’s departure hearing at St Andrews Town Hall being adjourned before it began due to legal advice but only after dozens of council officials, more than 100 members of the public and all the north east Fife councillors had turned up for what promised to be a lengthy meeting.
In her letter to Mr Grimmond, Mrs Melville said: “To say that everyone was not only angry but astonished that such information was presented late on a Friday afternoon, with no time to cancel the meeting or contact over 1,000 people, is an understatement of the position in which we were all placed.
“It was simply disgraceful and the meeting should not have been allowed to be arranged without all the information available for the application and knowing that the public had been consulted without that information.
“The public, the elected members, the officers who were in support Jim Birrell, Elspeth Cook, Darren O’Hare, Steven Paterson, Beth Flynn, Mike Melville and the council officers who went to a great effort to prepare the hall for such an important hearing require an explanation and a public apology. Nothing less, please.
“In all my years of chairing committees, and that’s many now, I cannot recall being put in such a position. I hope to hear from you on this as soon as possible.”
Mrs Melville added: “The sad fact in this effort to find a site for a new school for Madras College and its pupils which is so urgently needed and that includes several years that this has been ongoing is we are not much further on.
“We are letting its pupils and its future pupils down. I take no pleasure in stating that fact.”
Meanwhile, North East Fife MSP Roderick Campbell has revealed he is also seeking answers from Mr Grimmond.
He said: “I have written to Steve Grimmond to find out why this has been allowed to happen. The level of inconvenience this last-minute adjournment will have caused everybody who was present at the hearing is considerable and could have been avoided.
“There is a significant level of interest in the future of Madras College and it is disappointing that this pre-determination hearing did not go ahead.
“I hope that this issue is resolved, quickly, and the hearing is rescheduled soon.”
The planning application in principle for green belt land to the north of Pipeland farm, off Largo Road, proposes the construction of a secondary school with associated facilities.
A pre-determination hearing is necessary prior to determination by Fife Council because the application is significantly contrary to the development plan due to the nature and scale of the development proposed and its location outwith the settlement boundary.
On the advice of a Fife Council lawyer, Monday’s meeting was adjourned until a later date following the submission of new information by the applicant that proposes to build the new school.
A fresh hearing will now be arranged for the new year.