Accommodation Development On Abbey Park Remains Uncertain

The Scottish Government has been asked to amend the plans for a joint hotel and student accommodation property on Abbey Park. Although the initial planning permissions were acquired five years ago, the project has been stuck at a stalemate due to a certain condition in the planning application. This condition stipulates that a hotel operator has to be signed on to the project before construction may commence.

The property is designed to serve both students and tourists in St Andrews, with one hundred student rooms and ninety hotel rooms. Robertson Property Management made an appeal to Fife Council in October 2024 in an attempt to have this clause altered. The appeal was unsuccessful and prompted the developer to seek an appeal from the Scottish Government.

Efforts have been made to secure an investor — Robertson Property Management have unsuccessfully contacted fifty prospective investors. The amendment would “unlock” the project for hotel operators, the company stated, for whom the current state of the project is not financially viable.

This project has a legacy of controversy in St Andrews, with the Abbey Park Residents’ Action Group (APRAG) opposing the construction. Planning permissions were initially rejected by Fife Council in 2020 due to the impact of the project on the local community and issues of demand. Robertson Property Management appealed the ruling, and the project was given the green light in March 2020, under the aforementioned conditions.

A ruling on the current appeal is expected soon.

Image by Fife Planning Portal