EIGHTY jobs could be created under plans for a 60-bed nursing home and extra care flats on the outskirts of Haddington.

Members of the public had a chance to see In-Site Property Solutions Limited and Viewpoint’s plans for the site at Gateside East on Tuesday evening.

Dorry McLaughlin, chief executive of Viewpoint, was keen to see the development push ahead, with a planning application expected to be submitted within weeks.

“There is an ageing population all over Scotland and particularly in East Lothian,” she said. “They deserve to have state-of-the-art accommodation and services.” Planning permission in principle has been granted for a mixed housing and business use development on the site, west of Gateside Road.

Detailed proposals for the housing land are currently with East Lothian Council but remain undetermined.

The original planning permission was the subject of a legal agreement which required the submission of an application for approval of the details of the business park development to be submitted before the details of the housing is approved.

But the idea of business units could be dropped, with the possibility of a nursing home and extra care flats being created to the south of the site, beside West Road, instead.

It is hoped the nursing home could be open by the end of next year.

Paul Darling, from the town’s community council, attended the exhibition and said: “It was all plus-plus. It’s far better to get 80 jobs than 20 jobs through the business units.” A number of information boards were laid out at Haddington’s Corn Exchange, offering details and artists’ impressions, including a section highlighting the “benefits of our proposal”.

Among those noted were the provision of a nursing home and extra care flats, which are in short supply in Haddington and East Lothian.

Similarly, it would “create an attractive frontage” to West Road and result in “approximately” 80 jobs.

Mrs McLaughlin said: “I think it has been pretty positive tonight.

“The feedback I am getting is there is a lack of accommodation like a nursing home or extra care facilities in Haddington or in general; people are very interested in the concept.”