An application to turn a former grocer shop into a hot food takeaway in a St Andrews housing scheme has been unanimously rejected by councillors, amid concerns it could have a detrimental impact on residential amenity.
The applicant, Alan Thrupp, had lodged an application for full planning permission at the empty shop premises at 67 Lamond Drive.
However, St Andrews Fife councillor Brian Thomson, seconded by St Andrews councillor Keith McCartney, persuaded Fife Council’s north east Fife planning committee to vote against it on the grounds that it would not be compatible with neighbouring residences and could generate extra traffic that could cause problems with parking.
The application had been recommended for conditional approval by Fife Council planners. In her report, Fife Council planning case officer Kathleen Illingworth concluded the application would not create any detrimental amenity or road safety issues. It was considered to be compliant with the terms of the development plan and related national guidance.
It had been proposed by the planning official that the hours of operation be restricted to between noon and 11pm from Monday to Sunday.
It was also proposed that use would not be permitted until details of the extract ventilation system had been approved.
But councillors were told 11 letters of objection had been received, raising concerns about smell, noise, litter, residential area, parking, loss of a retail unit and potential anti-social behaviour/vandalism.
Dorothea Morrison, a St Andrews councillor, expressed concern that the application for a hot food takeaway had apparently only been submitted to try and “sell the building”. She was concerned that the council did not know at this stage who any potential takeaway business might be.
She also suggested that 11pm was “very early” to be considering the closure of a takeaway when “many students did not go out for the night until that time”, she said.
Concern was also expressed about the potential for litter being dropped in the Kilrymont Road area.
Mr Thomson said that when it was a convenience store, customers tended to be from the area and walked there. As a hot food takeaway, there was more potential for traffic from further afield.