Plans for a new multi-million-pound golf resort to be built at Feddinch Mains, near St Andrews in Scotland, have once again come unstuck after American businessman Mark Ogren, who bought the site in 2020, has reportedly walked away from the project.
Ambitious proposals for a golf resort at Feddinch Mains, which is south of St Andrews, have been rumbling on for more than two decades, with plans for 240-acre site first drawn up as far back as 1999.
Plans for the resort, to include an 18-hole course designed by former Open champion Tom Weiskopf, were approved back in 2014, when it was under the ownership of Scotia Investment Group, but the development never got off the ground and planning permission lapsed in 2020.
GPH Engineering, of which Ogren is a co-director, subsequently bought the site with a view to progressing the golf course development, including the construction of a clubhouse, 41 luxury bedroom suites, a spa and a restaurant.
A planning application was submitted, but has yet to be considered, although preparatory works began with consent in place. However, last May, Ogren found out that contractors had not been paid and work was immediately halted on the £25m project. Ogren resigned from GPH Engineering in October last year and no further work has been carried out at the site since.
In a statement released last year, Ogren, who is the majority shareholder of Dundee United FC, said: “Subsequent to my recent initial investment in GPH, I became aware that site work had commenced at Feddinch Mains, which had been unilaterally authorised by the other director of GPH, Hector Pous Rivero, with multiple contractors hired by him in connection with such work. To be clear, this work was not authorised by the board of directors of GPH. As such, I attempted to obtain details regarding the scope of the work authorised by the other director, but I have been unable to do so. Since such work was not authorised by the board of directors, and since I had been made aware that contractors were not being paid for their work, I instructed GPH’s attorneys to direct all contractors to cease work while I investigated the matter. Such investigation is on-going and I am exploring my options and legal rights.”