St Andrews & East Fife Local Plan - Home Page

addresses these concerns by raising design standards and proposingthe development of design guidance in planning briefs and masterplansfor large or particularly important sites. Supplementary, more detailed,design guides will emerge during the lifetime of the Local Plan. For theStrategic Land Allocations in St Andrews and Cupar, development willbe on a phased basis and lead to the creation of a series of smallneighbourhoods, rather than a single urban expansion. Distinct urbandesign in each area will help create a sense of place.69. Planning briefs, including masterplans, provide planning guidancewhich complements and supports the statutory development plan. Theyare not alternatives to the development plan but provide design, layout,infrastructure, and implementation guidelines or requirements forproposed development and provide clear advice to developers andcommunities on what is expected from development proposals. Whenthe Council approves planning briefs and masterplans, followingconsultation with the local communities affected by them, they willbecome material policy guidance in deciding planning applications.New and innovative designs are encouraged in locations where theywill add quality to the built environment. Such locations will includeconservation areas and rural locations. Design considerations in theseplaces will be more complex by virtue of their settings and the need toprotect and augment their characters.70. The environmental assets of East Fife are considerable. Theseinclude: over 3,100 listed buildings; 27 conservation areas; landscapeof quality and character; over 4,500 archaeological sites and more than200 ancient monuments; 3 Special Areas of Conservation, 3 Ramsarsites and 4 Special Protection Areas under European legislation,including the Isle of May; numerous sites of more local importance; and129 Tree Preservation Orders. Afforested areas and the coastline areparticular characteristics of rural East Fife. The Fife Structure Planprovides policy guidance in relation to nature conservation sites ofinternational and national significance; the Local Plan provides localpolicy.71. The pattern of towns, villages, and hamlets across the Local Plan areais an integral part of the area's character. Local Plan proposals for newdevelopment take account of these features with a view to protectingthe overall environmental quality, and have used landscape plans,where they exist, to inform the Plan. The Local Plan Proposals Mapdefines settlement envelopes only for those towns and villages of 25houses or more, or where the Local Plan supports development thatwill increase a settlement’s size to beyond 25 houses. Settlements withfewer than 25 houses are not defined by envelopes in the Local Planand will be regarded as established clusters of housing within thecountryside.