CONTROVERSIAL planning proposals to extend two East Lothian villages will be determined by councillors later today.

Outline plans to build more than 450 homes to the south of the railway line at Longniddry are recommended by East Lothian Council officials for approval.

However, a bid for 24 new homes in Dirleton could be dismissed if councillors follow planners’ recommendations to refuse.

Both sets of plans have sparked major debate in their communities.

Discussions over a potential large-scale extension of Longniddry have been ongoing for a number of years.

In the 1990s, plans were put forward for more than 1,000 new homes but ran into opposition.

The latest Longniddry proposals have been submitted by Redhouse Castle Ltd and Socially Conscious Capital.

Proposals suggest that the site could support about 450 new homes, with a new football pitch also included in the north-east corner and access coming from the B6363 to the west.

Six letters of objection – concerning a loss of quality farmland, increased traffic congestion and a suggestion “the majority of villagers” do not support increasing the size of the village by 50 per cent – have been lodged. Six letters of support have also been submitted, noting a need for housing and for proposed improvements to the village’s Main Street.

Longniddry Community Council also made more than a dozen comments, noting capacity issues on peak-hour trains and within the village’s railway station car park, as well as welcoming the proposed improvements to the B6363.

If the scheme gets the go ahead, various five and six-figure sums will be put towards road junction and town centre improvements and an extension to the railway station car park.

Meanwhile, plans for 24 houses to the north of Dirleton’s Foreshot Terrace are recommended for refusal.

Sixty-five people objected to the scheme, put forward by Muir Homes Limited, with concerns looking at the size, scale and character of the development, which it was felt was “out of keeping with Dirleton and would detract from the visual and historic approach into the village from the north”.

Further concerns touched on the potential impact it would have on the railway station car parks at Drem and North Berwick, as well as the suggestion it would “not preserve or enhance” the conservation area.

Gullane Area Community Council, which covers the village, also objected, while letters of support and objection noted there were plans to develop land at Castlemains to the south of the village.

The planning officer’s report concludes that the scheme should be turned down on two separate grounds. The report states the new development would “result in a highly visible and obtrusive extension of urban development into an area of agricultural land, which would not integrate into its surroundings and would simply extend the northern edge of the village of Dirleton into the undeveloped surrounding countryside in a conspicuous and incongruous manner which would not preserve but would be harmful to the character and appearance of the conservation area”, and that it was not an appropriate extension to the settlement.

Twelve councillors on the planning committee will have the final say on the plans at the meeting in Haddington Town House today, which starts at 10am.