DISCUSSIONS about the future of education in Haddington should be taking place ahead of major new housing developments being built, according to a community councillor.

Paul Darling has called for talks to be held in the wake of plans – at various stages – for potentially more than 2,300 new houses in the town.

Public exhibitions for two of the latest housing applications, which could total almost 1,000 houses, are expected to be held over the next few months, when members of the public will get the chance to see the proposals and have their say.

Mr Darling, planning liaison officer with the town’s community council, said: “I think they should be starting to have discussions now about the schools.

“What worries me is Knox Academy is technically a privately financed school [as it was funded through a Public Private Partnership scheme].

“Do you then say we want to add an extension to Knox Academy or, no, we want another [state] secondary school that is not funded in this way?

“If you are throwing big money you might as well throw big money at something the public has control over.”

And he added: “From what looks like Haddington having three or four primary schools and a secondary school, you will have that and two secondary schools.

“It’s going to have a north-south, east-west divide, them and us – it always does, no matter what happens.”

Currently, the town is home to five schools – King’s Meadow, St Mary’s RC, Haddington Infant School and The Compass School, as well as Knox Academy.

That will increase with the introduction of a new primary school at Letham Mains, with work expected to begin on more than 800 new homes in the coming months.

However, there are plans for further housing in the town, with a public exhibition looking at the possibility of homes being built on land to the south of Briery Bank expected to be held soon.

Mr Darling expected there would be at least 200 homes on the site, which is not included in the local development plan.

A second set of proposals, which could see in the region of 750 homes built, is also being considered for land off Pencaitland Road, to the west of the Letham Mains site.

That exhibition is due to take place in Haddington’s Trinity Centre on February 15, from 2.30pm to 7.30pm.

The two proposals were discussed by the community council at a recent meeting.

Jan Wilson, community council chairwoman, questioned the need for further development in the town.

She highlighted there were already developments at various stages at Dovecot, off Pencaitland Road; to the north of Haldane Avenue; and Gateside, to the west of the town.

Fellow community councillor Fiona-Frances Adam added: “I cannot understand how they are going to sell all these houses. Where are people going to work? The amenities like the medical centre and things like the schools are going to be overloaded.”

An East Lothian Council spokeswoman said: “Population growth and housing demand for East Lothian are assessed through the strategic planning process (South East Scotland Strategic Development Plan) and factored into the Local Development Plan process, which considers where land should be allocated to meet the demand.

“In this LDP process, infrastructure provision, including education provision, is a significant factor. The council approved a proposed LDP in September last year.

“This envisages provision of an additional secondary school facility for the Musselburgh area but not for any other area of East Lothian as capacity would be or can be made available, subject to developer contributions.

“On the basis of planned growth there is not a requirement for an additional secondary school in Haddington.

“Any applications for housing which are not considered in the proposed LDP would be assessed on their own merits, including their impact on education capacity.”