A St Andrews-based spirit company will build a new distillery and visitor centre after getting the green light for planning permission.
Gin and whisky producer Eden Mill will create the £8m facility at St Andrews University’s Eden Campus in Guardbridge.
Plans were revealed last year and permission has now been granted by Fife Council and the university.
As well as the proposed distillery and visitor centre, proposals include a café/bar, shop, presentation room and a VIP tasting area on the top floor of the distillery, offering views over the university campus and estuary.
With work already under way, it is hoped the centre will open in the first half of 2023.
‘We are delighted’
Stella Morse, chairwoman of the Eden Mill St Andrews board, said: “We are delighted to have received full planning permission and confirmed our long lease with the St University to build on the decade of foundations laid by Eden Mill St Andrews with our new and ambitious contemporary gin and single malt scotch whisky distillery.
“We’re pleased to have worked in partnership with the St Andrews University to secure planning permission for what will become one of Scotland’s future iconic distilleries.
“Our values and ambition regarding sustainability are closely aligned and we look forward to opening the distillery to visitors from across the globe in 2023.”
The company plans to be carbon neutral by 2024, aiming to run the new property with a local energy network generated by biomass plant and field electricity.
Solar panels will also be installed on the building.
Derek Watson, St Andrew’s quaestor and factor, said: “Today marks an exciting milestone in the relationship between the St Andrews University and Eden Mill, which has been based at what is now the Eden Campus for a decade.
“The regeneration of the former paper mill site and the creation of Eden Campus is a major strategic move for the university which will provide an exceptional working environment for our staff, breathe new life into the local economy of Guardbridge and have a beneficial impact on the town of St Andrews and beyond.
“We are delighted that Eden Mill is part of that.”
