TALKS between East Lothian Council and the main stakeholders in the proposed Cockenzie Energy Park appeared to have broken down this week as frustrated council chiefs issued an ultimatum.

As the council prepares to draw up its Local Development Plan for the future of the county, there was criticism aimed at ScottishPower, owners of the former power station and surrounding land, and Scottish Enterprise, who want to build the park, for a “lack of clarity” over the future.

Angela Leitch, council chief executive, said the lack of information about plans for the land was putting the council under pressure and demanded both organisations make clear their intentions for the land.

Ms Leitch said: “Now that our Main Issues Report consultation has closed we must move towards major decisions in the preparation of our proposed Local Development Plan.

“It is very difficult for us to strategically plan in land use and economic development terms with the current ambiguity.

“As site owners, ScottishPower has a critical role in determining the future of this location.

“It also has a planning approval to develop a high-efficiency gas power station on the land. However, it has not confirmed if it intends to continue with this development.

“The council is coming under pressure to develop a masterplan for the area. With no clear picture coming forward, it would be imprudent to commit substantial public funds – and raise public expectations – creating a vision for land which is in private ownership.

“We are also seeking clarity from Scottish Enterprise on its proposals for the site, which have caused concern across the community.

“We are therefore seeking a meeting with relevant parties to obtain clarity for the council and our community.” It is understood part of the frustration has been at the lack of engagement by ScottishPower and Scottish Enterprise with the cross-party working group, established by the local authority to look into the development of Cockenzie.

The cross-party group was launched late last year in response to growing public concern about Scottish Enterprise plans to create a giant industrial estate which would build and repair wind turbines for the offshore energy farm market.

The industrial estate would stretch from the former Cockenzie Power Station site, inland as far as the A1 and Blindwells, and would involve creating a deep-water quay, which would reclaim about 11 hectares of land from the sea.

Public concerns about the proposal led to the establishment of the Coastal Regeneration Alliance, a grassroots campaign battling against the industrial estate.

It currently has a petition with the Scottish Government calling for a halt to all plans at Cockenzie until a full public consultation has been carried out.

Despite the council setting up the cross-party group to look into the development plans, it is understood requests for meetings with ScottishPower and Scottish Enterprise have been ignored.

However, ScottishPower insists it has been in regular contact with East Lothian Council over its plans for the site, which it says are progressing with the deconstruction of the power station.

A spokesperson for the energy giants said: “At our most recent meeting we again assured the council that we would keep them fully up to date on any developments at site.

“It is disappointing to see this most recent request for an update made via a press release and not through direct contact. We meet regularly with community groups as well and recently held meetings with the local MP and MSP.

“We are certainly aware of the proposals for the Cockenzie Power Station site from Scottish Enterprise, but we are not directly involved in the development of these proposals, nor have we been involved in any public consultation.

“Since 2013, we have been actively following the conditions of our planning consent for a new CCGT power station, and the main focus continues to be the successful completion of the partial dismantlement works.

“There continues to be a number of obstacles in the way of the construction of the CCGT development, undoubtedly the biggest being the continuation of the Transmission Charging regime that discriminates against new thermal power generation in Scotland. However, we have reassured all interested parties we will keep them fully informed of any plans for site.” Scottish Enterprise declined to comment.