Controversial St Andrews street changes could be here to stay as slim majority votes to keep them

Controversial St Andrews road changes could be here to stay, despite a split in local opinion.

A questionnaire circulated in the winter about the future layout of South Street was answered by 1,072 people.

And the results show 46% of people want to keep the temporary interventions introduced in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.

However, 42% want them removed, with 12% saying they want to keep some of the measures.

They were initially brought in to allow pedestrians room for social distancing on the busy street.

£50,000 for new street designs

Fife Council will now spend £50,000 on drawing up detailed designs for South Street, which would see pavements permanently widened and upgraded.

It would also mean the loss of 44 parking spaces.

The council’s lead sustainable traffic consultant Allan Maclean said: “You could say 58% are in favour of keeping some or all of the interventions.

“Equally, you could say 54% want some or all of them removed.”

People want rid of A-boards and other hazards

Among the respondents were 59 St Andrews traders.

Mr Maclean said 29 of the shopkeepers wanted the interventions removed, 20 supported keeping them and 10 did not state a preference.

Many people wanted to see the street “decluttered”.

They said they wanted to be able to walk in a straight line without coming across A-boards and other hazards.

The issue was raised at this week’s meeting of the council’s North East Fife area committee.

And members gave officers the go-ahead to draw up designs which would address those concerns.

Consultation results ‘hardly conclusive’

SNP councillor David McDiarmid described the current measures on South Street as “very higglety pigglety”.

And he said: “It looks out of place the way it is just now.

“But if there is a more permanent solution that made it look like it’s meant to be there, I would be in favour.”

However, St Andrews Conservative councillor Robin Lawson raised a series of concerns.

He said: “It’s 58% for and 54% against, which is hardly conclusive.”

He added that removing 44 parking spaces could mean the loss of £75,000 a year in parking revenue.

However, head of transportation John Mitchell responded: “Yes, there is the potential to lose that income.

“The question is how we use that space, how it looks for the town, whether it helps with cafe culture, how people want to live.”

Cost of the South Street St Andrews work

Once the designs are ready, they will still have to be approved by councillors before any work goes ahead.

And there would be an option to reject any suggested measures.

The committee heard it would cost around £500,000 to permanently upgrade the street.

However, to remove the temporary measures and return South Street to its previous condition would come in at between £10,000 and £20,000.