A St Andrews community group has won the first stage of a David and Goliath battle over an overgrown section of town centre land.
Poets Neuk has been granted permission for a compulsory purchase of a plot in Greyfriars Garden from an Isle of Man-based financial services company.
It hopes to transform the land into a poetry garden to celebrate its historic link with Mary, Queen of Scots.
The decision by Scottish ministers is the first successful application under a recently-implemented section of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act.
And it forces the offshore trust to sell unless they win an appeal lodged at Dundee Sheriff Court.
The residents’ victory comes amid a planning conflict, with two competing applications for the same site.
Poets Neuk says it has the community’s backing.
However, landowner Optimus Fiduciaries has now re-launched its own bid for the ground.
It wants to open a coffee shack selling snacks and beverages from a converted horse box.
Garden is ‘used as toilet for humans and dogs’
The land in St Andrews conservation area measures just 300 square metres but is historically significant.
It was the site of a medieval Greyfriars monastery chapel and there have been several archaeological finds, including ancient graves.
The site is said to have been gifted to the town by Mary, Queen of Scots on the eve of her abdication in 1567.
However, according to Poets Neuk, it is now used as “a site for anti-social behaviour, most frequently as a toilet for humans and dogs”.
A planning statement submitted by the group to Fife Council stated: “Other misuse includes illicit drinking by young people, and vagrants sorting goods they have stolen from bags deposited by donors at charity shop doors.
“There has also been evidence of drug use.”
Land ownership issue stalling St Andrews poetry garden proposal
Poets Neuk previously secured planning permission for the site and is now seeking to renew the consent.
It hopes to create a “world-class, immersive experience including poetry about, and by, the tragic 16th century queen.
However, while funding is in place, the group has been unable to proceed due to the land ownership issue.
Although members secured what is described as a pre-emptive right to buy in 2018, this could not force a sale.
It only meant Optimus Fiduciaries could not sell to anyone other than the St Andrews group.
42 objections to coffee shack plan
Meanwhile, a previous application by the trust to open a takeaway coffee shack was turned down by councillors in 2022.
And an appeal to the Scottish Government was unsuccessful.
Its latest application says it will regenerate a disused site with minimum intervention.
If approved, a converted horse box would be painted pastel blue, white and ivory and craned into the garden.
Planning papers say: “The proposal is of the same nature as Fife establishments such as the Crepe Shack, Mac Love and The Cheesy Toast Shack.”
So far, 42 objections are lodged, including one from St Andrews Community Council.
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