Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

St Andrews hotel takes ‘lipstick on a pig’ coffee kiosk fight to Holyrood

One Fife councillor described the plan to sell hot drinks from a converted horse box in the conservation area as "pretty silly".

Kinettles Hotel wanted to open a Greyfriar's Garden coffee kiosk Image: Google Maps,
Kinnettles Hotel, right, and Greyfriar's Garden opposite. Image: Google Maps,

Holyrood has been asked to rule on a St Andrews planning application which was compared to putting lipstick on a pig.

Kinnettles Hotel owners have appealed to the Scottish Government after their plans for a coffee kiosk in the town’s conservation area were turned down by councillors.

The proposal involved selling hot drinks and snacks from a converted horse box in Greyfriars Garden.

The St Andrews coffee kiosk would have been open to the public in Greyfriars Garden. Image: Google Maps.

The corner plot is owned by the hotel and already used by patrons.

However, 50 neighbours objected amid fears they would be disturbed by noise.

And one member of the north east planning committee described the application as silly.

Liberal Democrat councillor Jane Ann Liston said: “It doesn’t enhance the conservation area, it doesn’t enhance the listed buildings.

“It looks pretty silly to have a horse box in gardens like that.

“I would go so far as to say it’s like lipstick on a pig.”

Approval could mean ‘open season’ for applications

The March 8 decision was the second time the Kinnettles Hotel application had been refused.

A previous appeal to Scottish ministers was also refused, but only on the grounds there was not enough information about how the coffee shack would look.

This time, the applicants submitted drawings showing a small, lightweight trailer finished in blue tongue and groove cladding.

How the St Andrews coffee kiosk would look. Image: Kinnettles Hotel planning application.

And Fife Council planners had recommended approval, saying the hotel had no outdoor space for guests.

Planning officer Mary Stewart said: “The impact is not considered to be significant.”

However, councillors disagreed.

SNP member David McDiarmid feared it could open the floodgates.

He said: “There are 17 gardens along there and if we approve this it would be like open season for planning applications.”

The case will be allocated to a Scottish Government reporter for a ruling in due course.

Conversation