CONTROVERSIAL proposals for a 450-home expansion of Longniddry, mainly to the south of the town’s railway line, have again been met with a mixed reaction.

Socially Conscious Capital (SCC) wants to build the houses and revealed its latest plans at a two-day exhibition last weekend.

A proposed large-scale development of Longniddry – involving more than 1,000 houses – was put forward in the 1990s but met widespread opposition.Discussions over a smaller development began in 2013, with revised plans put to villagers this week. According to the event organisers, about 80 of the near-200 people who attended were interested or knew someone who was interested in looking for a new house in the earmarked development.

However, pressure group Listen to Longniddry told the Courier that “a sizeable majority” of residents were opposed to the plans which they fear would create two communities, forever separated by the East Coast Main Line.

SCC – a development partner of the Wemyss & March Estate (WME) – held the public display last Friday and Saturday.

The revised masterplan outlines proposals for about 450 new houses, as well as a range of “potential” benefits to the community, including new health facilities and a football pitch.

At the same time, a pledge was made that the development would trigger about £71m in capital investment, while creating and sustaining 142 jobs over the estimated 10-year construction period.

Feedback forms were given to those who attended the event, at the Longniddry Inn.

When it came to priorities for the village, more than 63 per cent viewed a new GP surgery/health hub as a top priority, followed by more than 30 per cent who viewed extra station car parking as key.

Some of the homes would also be built to the east of the village.

A spokesman for the proposed developer said: “Land would be provided to NHS Lothian within the development for a new health centre, although NHS Lothian will not be able to commit to a new facility until the development is under way.

“Additional car parking would also be provided on the south side of the station as part of the development, together with the potential expansion of the existing car park on Wemyss and March Estate land on the north side of station.” The site earmarked by SCC to the south of the railway line is not identified as a preferred site for development in East Lothian Council’s Main Issues Report (MIR). Instead, it is described as “a reasonable alternative”.

According to the MIR report, there are concerns about a loss of agricultural land there and that the site is “separated” from the existing village by the East Coast Main railway line “and its development would not relate strongly to the existing village, extending it south into open countryside beyond the railway”.

Rock Feilding, from SCC, was delighted with the turnout at the exhibition and said: “The fact that more than 39 per cent of those who fed back to us were interested or knew of someone interested in a new house in the development is telling and we have already had requests from a number of people for a house.

“This is borne out by the feedback, indicating that half see starter homes for young people and new families as most needed, followed by over 40 per cent who saw a need for smaller bungalows or flats for older people looking to downsize within the village.” But the proposals have been met with opposition from Listen to Longniddry.

A spokesman for the pressure group said: “It’s definitely the wrong site – some of the best arable land in Scotland according to all available agronomic indicators.

“We are under increasing pressure to expand food production as the population grows. We will be increasingly dependent on good land to allow us to do this – we cannot afford to take good land out of production; we need to do the opposite and increase yield in these valuable places.” The spokesman called for the proposals – at the pre-planning application stage – to be “stopped” and for local land titles belonging to the Wemyss and March Estate to be transferred to the control and ownership of the people of Longniddry.

He added: “The proposals for Longniddry are daft. It is simply impossible to create an integrated community bisected by a major transportation route – decades of planning experience all over the world confirm this. It will become known as ‘South Longniddry’ or ‘the other side of the tracks’.

“But arguably the most serious problem is the total idiocy of building more housing in East Lothian without providing additional train services or more train carriages – and we know that these cannot be provided as the East Coast Main Line is at capacity already, and the platforms are of insufficient length.

“The morning and evening peak time services are becoming unbearably overcrowded already, even before all the developments at North Berwick.”