West is best for housing explosion in East Lothian

A blueprint for future development between now and 2024 was revealed on Tuesday as councillors discussed the local authority’s much-anticipated Main Issues Report (MIR).

The Scottish Government has tasked East Lothian Council with building a massive number of new homes over the next 10 years and the local authority believes that the west of the county is best-placed to play a lead role.

But residents will get the chance to have their say before any final decision is made.

The council’s preferred option – described as ‘Compact Growth’ – would focus the search for new housing and economic development land on the Musselburgh, Prestonpans, Cockenzie and Port Seton, and Tranent areas.

Further land would also be considered in the rest of the county, alongside the A1 and East Coast Rail Line.

The alternative option – called ‘dispersed growth’ – would seek to share and spread additional developments across the breadth of East Lothian, alongside the A1 and East Coast Rail Line corridor.

A number of reasons are set out as to why the ‘compact growth’ concept is preferred by the local authority, including the west of the county’s closer proximity to Edinburgh and its jobs and facilities such as hospitals, and its better transport links.

The MIR was approved for public consultation by the local authority, despite the opposition SNP Group voting against it, and will now go out to public consultation before returning to East Lothian Council in the New Year.

Iain McFarlane, the council’s service manager for planning, told councillors that “an immense amount of work” had gone into the document.

The consultation starts next month, with the public getting the chance to have their say on what will make up the county’s Local Development Plan (LDP). Every planning application, be it for housing, retail or business, is weighed up against the LDP before a decision is made.

Councillor Stuart Currie, SNP Group leader, questioned why some sites had been labelled “preferred” options and others “reasonable alternatives” ahead of the public consultation.

He said: “I would prefer you go out to consultation and say here is a range of sites, what do you think?

“I understand they have got to label them but must it assign them some form of pecking order or status?” He acknowledged the sites could move and, instead of being an alternative site, they could become a preferred site.

Last year, the county’s population was measured at 101,360, with more than 20 per cent of that based in Musselburgh and Wallyford.

Between 2006 and 2011, about 7,500 houses were sold in the county, with 70 per cent of those taking place between Musselburgh and Haddington.

Proposed sites such as Blindwells, near Tranent, and Goshen Farm, near Musselburgh, could take a sizeable chunk of the 10,050 homes needing to be built.

But East Lothian Council has already been busy looking for sites across the county and identified a number of sites as part of the MIR.

Iain McFarlane, service manager for planning, said: “In putting forward a preferred strategy (compact growth), officers recommend that whilst acknowledging infrastructure constraints which exist in the west of the SDA (Strategic Development Area), particularly around education capacity, transportation and air quality issues, the purpose of the MIR is to consult on these issues as well as others and to seek responses which inform the potential solutions.” Councillor David Berry (ind) felt there had to be more “joined-up thinking”. He said infrastructure had to be improved along with the increase in houses.

Mr Berry highlighted the low number of trains and also the fact a number of buses did not link up with train arrivals and departures.

He felt a ticketing scheme similar to London’s Oyster Card – a single ticket scheme valid on various forms of public transport – would improve the use of public transport.

The 221-page council document is expected to go out to formal consultation on November 17.

That will then run for 12 weeks, with members of the public able to have their say on the plans until February 9.

Mr McFarlane said they would be encouraging everyone to get involved with the process, with six consultation events held across the county in the run-up to Christmas.

The first is pencilled in for Musselburgh’s The Brunton on November 17, with a second event that week (November 20) at Prestonpans Community Centre.

Next is Haddington’s Town House on November 25, with the Castle Social Club in Dunbar hosting a session on December 2.

The final two events are held in North Berwick’s Community Centre on December 4 and The Fraser Centre, in Tranent, four days later.

Each event runs 1-9pm, with a drop-in session in the afternoon and a workshop in the evening.

Councillor Norman Hampshire, spokesperson for environment, said: “This is a key piece of work and has involved a huge amount of research.

“It’s important that as many people as possible get involved.

“East Lothian is facing great change in its population, economy and way of life, which will affect all of us.

“There are aims we have for East Lothian, such as growing our economy and addressing issues of inequality, and there are elements we must include in our Local Development Plan dictated by the Scottish Government’s strategy for development.

“I would encourage as many people as possible to get involved.”