A PLAN for 1,500 new houses, a new primary school and employment land at Craighall, near Musselburgh, has been branded “over-urbanisation” by the town’s conservation society.

Persimmon Homes, which owns the site on either side of the A1 near Queen Margaret University, unveiled the draft masterplan to the public at an exhibition in The Brunton last week as part of a Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) for the project.

The company is now hoping to lodge a planning application for the development with East Lothian Council by the end of August.

Barry Turner, spokesman for Musselburgh Conservation Society, feared it would be an “extension of Edinburgh into East Lothian”, with “a poor physical and social relationship” with Musselburgh.

But he said: “If we must have 5,300 additional houses in and around Musselburgh, Musselburgh Conservation Society would support the principle of development at Craighall because traffic generated will be able to access the A1 through improved junctions and thus the impact on Musselburgh High Street should be minimised.”

He added: “The downside is that the community here will have a poor physical and social relationship with Musselburgh, the development being much more an extension of Edinburgh into East Lothian. It will also result in over-urbanisation because of the close association with proposed developments nearby.

“We think that the housing allocation here should be reduced as part of an overall reduction in Musselburgh and to allow a wider open space corridor along the western boundary and much-needed additional employment uses.

“We are concerned that the land set aside for improvements to the station is insufficient to provide for the increased commuter parking already needed and we want to see the safeguarding of a route for Tramline 3 up to the station included in the masterplan.”

Planning consultant Robin Holder, acting for Persimmon Homes, stressed that the land at Craighall was allocated for such a mixed-use development in the proposed East Lothian Local Development Plan.

The blueprint shows that to the north of the A1, land extends westwards from the B6415, “an important gateway route” into Musselburgh, wrapping around the east side of Queen Margaret University up to Musselburgh Railway Station. An extension of this western edge of Musselburgh of about 450 new homes “with strong links to rail and bus” is planned.

A quarter of the new homes proposed would be affordable and land has been safeguarded to allow improvements at the train station.

About 21 hectares of land, being promoted by the university for a commercial hub and innovation park, is situated to the north-west of the site.

On the other side of the A1 an area which extends north from Old Craighall into a ‘loop’ site and is bounded by a freight railway line would accommodate 700 new homes.

The existing community of Old Craighall would be expanded with 350 to 400 new homes and a new primary school served by secondary education at the existing Musselburgh Grammar School. Playing fields and changing facilities are planned close to the primary school.

A community hub would include a local convenience store, possibly a nursery facility, car parking associated with allotments along with potential other community uses. Further employment land, stretching to 41 hectares, would bound a recycling and energy recovery centre at Millerhill.

“Safe and attractive” footpath links would connect homes to schools, parkland, employment and shops within the site and the surrounding area.

The development areas to the north and south of the existing A1 would be connected by both existing vehicular routes and the completion of an ‘all-ways junction’ providing access directly to the A1 from the south of Queen Margaret University.

The existing single-sided Queen Margaret Junction would be upgraded and a roundabout provided to the south of the A1 which would be linked to the existing road infrastructure adjacent to the university by a new underpass, associated footpaths and cyclepath below the existing A1.

In addition to the junction and vehicular routes, dedicated underpasses below the A1 would be provided to allow safe access for cyclists and pedestrians to link in with both existing and proposed cycleways and footpaths.

Jim Kirkpatrick, managing director at Persimmon Homes East Scotland, said: “We are pleased to report the success of the recent public consultation event to discuss the future of the Craighall site.

“We welcomed feedback from members of the local community and were very encouraged by the positive response to our masterplan and proposals for the site.

“The comments received from attendees will be considered and used to shape our proposals in advance of submitting our planning application to East Lothian Council in late summer 2017.”

A council spokeswoman said: "The council is aware of the concerns raised by the Musselburgh Conservation Society. These are the subject of formal representations to the proposed LDP and will be fully considered by the Reporters appointed by Scottish Ministers.

"Once the examination is complete, the Reporters will prepare a report to recommend whether the council ought to modify the LDP or not in light of representations. These recommendations will be largely binding on the council.

"Scottish Ministers anticipate the examination to be complete by February 2018.

"The plan proposes to safeguard land for potential future improvement of Musselburgh rail halt, the details of which will be dealt with in due course by the council working with Network Rail and other stakeholders."