ON the face of it, golfer Tiger Woods and fashion designer Stella McCartney seem to have very little in common.
Both, of course, are extremely successful in their chosen fields and have earned vast sums of money through their endeavours.
Woods has won 15 major golf championships, which Ms McCartney hasn’t, but she is a hugely sought-after fashion designer and has a former Beatle as a father to burnish her celebrity status.
But despite the obvious differences, both Tiger and Stella are currently embroiled in good old-fashioned nimby rows over their separate development plans in Scotland.
First up is Tiger who has sparked a petition against his plans, along with singer Justin Timberlake, to open a new premium sports and entertainment gastro-pub in St Andrews.
Read More: Stella McCartney draws complaints with 'eyesore' Highland home plans
The bar, called T-Squared Social, would be the second worldwide location from Woods and Timberlake, who unveiled their first pub in the heart of Manhattan last month.
The venue will open in 2024, subject to planning approval, in the New Picture House Cinema on North Street, located minutes from the famous Old Course.
The plans will see the theatre, built in 1930, undergo extensive renovations, with T-Squared Social maintaining one of the movie screen theatres for “watching theatrical films, live-to-cinema events and marquee TV programming”.
But some of the locals are a bit put out by the plans, it is fair to say, with a petition now launched by the delightfully named Ash Johann Curry-Machado of St Andrews Film Society.
He said the proposed development “threatens to strip away a vital part of our town’s identity and history”.
Since being launched last week, the petition has gained over 9,000 signatures.
University of St Andrews student, the equally wonderfully named Honey Harrop, has also started an Instagram account to help publicise the petition.
She said: “The response from students and locals has overall been very negative to the proposal, with many students concerned about the loss of one of the only non-designated drinking evening venues in St Andrews.”
By this, I think, she means it is the only place in the Home of Golf that doesn’t serve drink in the evenings – not that students would be tempted to partake in such a thing of course.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but St Andrews is synonymous with just one thing really – namely golf.
Read More: Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake unveil sports pub plans
It attracts millions of visitors to play the most famous golf course in the world, the Old Course, and let’s face it, if it wasn’t for the game, very few people would have heard about St Andrews.
So surely if the most famous golfer in the world wants to open a bar in the town that should be viewed as a good thing as it will attract even more visitors who will generate more cash for local businesses.
Not one person on the other hand visits St Andrews for a trip to the local cinema and I suspect this nimby row is actually all about who is opening the bar – namely two globally famous Americans – and that, for some, is too much to bear. Further north, Highland council has received more than 50 objections to a proposal by fashion designer Stella McCartney to build a seafront house close to Mallaig.
The 52-year-old, the daughter of ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, and her husband are looking to erect a coastal property at Glenluig at Commando Rock near Lochailort.
Plans submitted in the name of Ms McCartney’s husband, Alasdhair Willis, outline plans for a house, garage and access road in the remote beauty spot just off the main A830 road.
But local residents Dr Peter & Mrs Jean Langhorne said: “Since the plans feature a number of large windows, facing west, this will result in obvious and unsightly glare, as they will reflect the afternoon and evening sun, making the house even more visible from the beach and the sea.”
Read More: Even Sir Andy Murray is a target for short-sighted wealth-haters
I’m not sure I see the logic here as if it is as unsightly as objectors claim then it will be perfectly visible in rain, hail, sleet and snow too.
But perhaps the key argument comes from Sam Seccombe, one of the objectors, who said: “It would set a bad precedent, that anyone with enough money could buy up unspoilt and extremely beautiful land then build enormous dwellings that would likely remain unused for most of the year.”
The housing problems faced by locals in the Highlands are well documented and it is perfectly valid to question second home-owners who buy up property that could be be bought by locals.
But that argument doesn’t apply here as it’s a new house – which will presumably be built by local workers. Nimbyism deters investment and in the current economic climate, Scotland can ill afford to lose such schemes.
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