A SPECIAL meeting looking at the future development of Dunbar is being held on Monday.

Dunbar’s community council will shelve its usual agenda to focus on the potential impact of the 10,050 houses due to be built across the county over the next decade.

The meeting, in the town house at 7pm, will examine various issues raised by East Lothian Council’s Main Issues Report (MIR) consultation document.

An official consultation evening was held in Dunbar at the beginning of last month.

Among those in attendance were Pippa Swan and Sue Anderson, both community councillors.

Mrs Swan said: “Generally, there was not an enormous aversion to more houses but a very great anxiety as to whether infrastructure could support that and the impact on the school and resources that would be available to new families.” Other concerns centred on road layouts as access south of the railway line in Dunbar was rather limited, and the impact on the local sewerage system if a large number of additional houses were built.

Consultation on the MIR, which is the first step to the council producing its Local Development Plan, ends on February 8.

Already, a preferred strategy for “compact growth”, which would see development concentrated in the west of the county, has been established by East Lothian Council.

One of the main reasons supporting that strategy is the better transport links in the west of the county.

But a reasonable alternative of spreading development across the county has also been suggested, with ‘preferred’ and ‘alternative’ sites put forward for each of East Lothian’s main towns.

A series of consultation events were held across the county in the run-up to Christmas.

Mrs Swan was keen to organise an event dedicated purely to Dunbar’s future and to get a planning official to attend the meeting.

Herbert Coutts, another community councillor, was keen to see a good turnout from residents of the town.

He said the public could then give their opinion on the plans for the area, which would influence the community council’s response to the proposals.

“I think it is a good idea to have a planning official there,” he said.

“We have to listen to [the public] carefully and that would help to form our thinking.” In the consultation document, four sites in the town have been described as ‘preferred sites’, with one other labelled as an ‘alternative site’ in terms of housing.

Among the preferred sites in Dunbar is Beveridge Row, which already has planning permission for a maximum of 90 homes.

A second site is located to the south of the railway line at Hallhill.

Much of Hallhill has already been earmarked for development, with a 12-hectare site at Lochend Kennels identified as suitable for approximately 250 homes.

Another site at Hallhill, opposite Steadings Crescent, was also identified for residential use, with a proposal of application notice previously submitted to East Lothian Council.

Meanwhile, a site has been identified for housing to the south of Beachmont Place.

Plans for a 11.3-hectare residential development were submitted in 2001 but not determined. The alternative site, at Eweford Farm, stretches to 81 hectares and could house “approximately 1,000” homes.