Fife Council’s executive committee has agreed to put children first by pursuing the Labour administration’s preferred option for a £40 million single-site Madras College at Pipeland.
The vote in favour of Pipeland went against the recent majority recommendation of the North East Fife area committee to push for the redevelopment of the existing school site at Kilrymont.
A full consultation exercise will now be launched by the council in connection with the Pipeland site before any final decision is made.
Fife Council’s executive director for education and learning, Ken Greer, said any development in St Andrews faced planning challenges but compromise and allowances were needed.
He said it was imperative a decision was made as quickly as possible for the sake of the school, pupils and parents.
Fife Council’s executive spokesperson for education, Bryan Poole, said he disagreed with the Kilrymont option because Fife Council could do better than this ”restricted” site.
There were concerns about asbestos at Kilrymont and decant fears over the whole school being temporarily accommodated at South Street.
He recognised that Pipeland was on greenbelt land, but urged those against development there to ”compromise” for the good of education.
St Andrews councillor Dorothea Morrison said that given the possibility of a legal challenge over the greenbelt status of the southern hillside, there was no guarantee planning permission would be granted.
She said previous plans by Muir Group, who own the site, to develop housing on the southern hillside had brought ”terror” to the community and had resulted in a well organised greenbelt campaign almost 20 years ago.
Fife Council leader Alex Rowley said he believed Kilrymont was not an option because the school he wanted could not be delivered in the middle of a housing estate.
He said he understood the concerns of greenbelt campaigners but argued these were ”exceptional circumstances,” and that assurances would be sought that no further development could take place there.
Regarding a fall-back site if for some reason Pipeland hit a snag, he confirmed Fife Council would look at taking Madras College out of St Andrews.
One option might be a school closer to the Tay Bridgehead, from where 54% of children commute to Madras each day.