Brand new seaside sauna approved for East Sands, St Andrews

St Andrews is set to receive its first mobile seaside sauna – joining a growing number of towns and villages in North East Fife to jump on board with the trend.

North East Fife planning committee councillors approved plans for the mobile, wood-fired sauna unit from Wild Scottish Sauna on Wednesday, and the company can now move onto Common Good land just to the north of East Sands Beach.

“We know that the unique and vibrant town of St Andrews would hugely benefit from one of our luxury Saunas,” a planning statement said. “We want to support the health of the local community enabling people to live longer, happier and healthier lives.”

The company’s founders were part of the group which launched St Andrews wild swimming group BAB – Bob And Blether – in 2021.

They already own and operate a successful seaside sauna at Kingsbarns, which has been open since 2023.

The application came just weeks after councillors voted to reject a similar move from Judith Dunlop, the owner of Elie Seaside Sauna.

Ms Dunlop wanted to open a new mobile sauna at the Golf Museum Car Park near West Sands beach, but back in January planners and councillors alike refused her plans.

They rejected Ms Dunlop’s plans “in the interests of protecting visual amenity” and in the interest of protecting the character and appearance of the coast.

Planners saw no issue with allowing the plans from Wild Scottish Sauna to move forward.

They emphasised that the Wild Scottish Sauna proposal would both “complement and be compatible with” the surrounding leisure, commercial, tourist and residential uses.

They added that the “the small-scale nature of the proposal and its location to the east of three harbour sheds” is not considered to have a “significant detrimental impact” on the St Andrews Conservation area.

The application also garnered more than 120 public letters of support from residents in favour of the sauna compared to just 14 letters of objection.