A controversial multimillion-pound extension of a landmark St Andrews hotel has been refused by councillors amid concerns it could change one of the most famous views in world golf forever.
The Rusacks Marine Hotel on Pilmour Links overlooks the 18th hole of the Old Course, the backdrop for some of the greatest stories of triumph and tragedy in the history of the game.
That instantly recognisable vista faced change as owners Macdonald Hotels sought permission for an ambitious development.
The project would have seen a six-storey extension built next to the hotel, providing an extra 43 bedrooms.
The lower ground floor of the building would have comprised car parking and service areas, managed by a valet service system.
But the proposed extension, which was expected to cost more than £5 million, was yesterday turned down by Fife Council’s North East planning committee after being recommended for conditional approval by Fife Council planners.
St Andrews Labour councillor Brian Thomson, who was brought up in the town, successfully moved refusal.
Reflecting on his teenage years on the links where he worked as a caddie, he said the backdrop of the first and 18th fairways at the Old Course was “the most iconic setting in world golf”.
He also disputed claims by Fife Council planner Alastair Hamilton that the Rusacks car park was a “gap site”.
Mr Thomson’s motion, on the basis that the application would impact on a conservation area, have a negative impact on residential amenity and lead to a lack of sufficient parking, was seconded by St Andrews Conservative councillor Dorothea Morrison who added that the proposed scale and density was not appropriate for this area.
Howe of Fife Liberal Democrat councillor Donald Lothian moved approval of the application. He failed to find a seconder, however, and the committee refused it.