AMBITIOUS proposals could see the majority of roads in East Linton become 20mph zones.

A consultation paper looking at a variety of road safety concerns in the village, including the area surrounding the primary school, is now open to the public.

One of the strands of the scheme would see the possibility of all roads in the village – with the exception of Haddington Road, Station Road, Preston Road, Mill Wynd, Bridge Street, Browns Place and High Street – becoming 20 mile per hour zones.

Judith Priest, chairwoman of the village’s community council, said that talks about changing the speed limit on a number of streets in East Linton had been ongoing for a number of months.

However, she was keen to see the main streets in the village – such as Mill Wynd and High Street – included in the new scheme as well.

She said: “Traffic goes through the village.

“Basically the main road is the B1377 [which becomes at various points High Street, Browns Place and Bridge Street] and we’ve got lorries, tractors and things going through it.

“A lot of people live off that stretch of road, a quarter of the population of Dunpender.

“It’s very densely populated on High Street and we were looking to slow traffic down in the centre and to make the whole place more user-friendly for pedestrians than it is at the moment.” The community council has worked alongside East Linton Primary School’s parent council on the scheme, with East Lothian Council’s consultation on the proposals open until April 10.

One of the other ideas is for a section of the village’s School Road to be shut to vehicles at certain times of the day.

That would follow similar schemes in both Haddington and Dunbar.

In Haddington, Victoria Road, Neilson Park and Wemyss Park, which surround King’s Meadow Primary School and the Haddington Infant and St Mary’s RC Primary School joint campus, are not open to traffic – other than residents, those with blue badges and essential vehicles, such as police or ambulances – for an hour in the morning and another hour in the afternoon.

In East Linton, the scheme would see School Road, from the junction of Walker Terrace, shut off at certain times of the day.

Ward councillor Michael Veitch, the local authority’s spokesman for transport and roads, stressed it was important that the community had their say.

He said: “It is the council policy that 20 mile per hour zones will be supported where there is a strong public demand.

“Dunpender Community Council has taken a strong lead and been very supportive and a lot of signatures have been collected.” Another aspect of the scheme would be to create additional parking in the town, while attempting to reduce “indiscriminate dangerous parking”.

Mr Veitch told the Courier that there was “a fairly chronic lack of parking in East Linton”, something which Mrs Priest agreed with.

Build-outs could be created at the junction of School Road and High Street, with parking earmarked for Bank Road and Station Road.

To have your say, go to eastlothianconsultations.co.uk