Plans for another 1,600 homes at Blindwells

Already, proposals for 1,600 homes to the west of the site, which is sandwiched between the A1 and the A198, north west of Tranent, are being considered by East Lothian Council. Those plans could then be considered by the local authority’s planning committee later this year.

Land owners Hargreaves submitted plans last September to create a new housing development and additional infrastructure on the former opencast mining site.

Now, they are investigating the option of a further 1,600 homes to the east of the site. Land at the centre of the 200-hectare site has also been earmarked for the possibility of a primary school and secondary school campus.

Iain Slater, head of property for Hargreaves, described the announcement as “another exciting step for the project”.

He said: “The response we’ve had to date for the Blindwells development has been extremely encouraging and it has been that level of support that has enabled us to consider an extension.

“We have spoke to East Lothian Council at length about our plans and we hope we can meet some of the identified future housing needs for the area.” East Lothian Council has already been tasked with creating 10,050 new homes across the county by 2024.

The Hargreaves plans would be close to one-third of the required number.

Mr Slater added: “As we’ve said before, this is more than just a housing development; it will provide a supermarket, local shops and space for other community services, including a larger education hub, all within the overarching scheme.

“What we need now is local feedback and, once we confirm dates for our public information [sessions], we hope that lots of people will take up the opportunity to speak to us and share their thoughts.” Information sessions are expected to be held in the surrounding towns in the coming weeks, where members of the public can find out more about the development and speak to members of the development team.

The site will provide affordable housing, a supermarket, healthcare centre, business premises, recreation space and other community facilities.

The development was initially identified as an important site more than a decade ago.

Following extensive discussions with the council, and the identified need for further housing the county, as acknowledged by the Local Development Plan, Hargreaves is taking the initial steps in the planning process for an extension.

MSP Iain Gray was among those seeing the latest proposals for the first time this week.

He said: “The proposed development at Blindwells is a vital part of the delivery of the new homes the Scottish Government has instructed East Lothian to build.

“The site has long been identified for development and I welcome the progress now being made.

“However, when work finally gets under way, it will be crucial that appropriate local infrastructure is developed alongside the houses.

“Given the scale of the development, the Scottish Government should certainly be providing assistance to the council to help meet the costs of the educational, health and transport infrastructure that the site will require.” The county’s MP, George Kerevan, was also able to have a look at the latest phase of the project.

He stressed he was not against the development at Blindwells and added: “Certainly we need more homes in East Lothian, especially affordable ones.

“And it makes good sense to recover waste land from open cast coal mines and transform it into new settlements in which our children can grow up.

“There is just one problem: we are going about it the wrong way.

“For starters, creating new towns from scratch – rather than growing existing ones – has a bad history.

“It usually means the newcomers and the existing populations don’t mix.

“Above all, it can result in the building of masses of identical rabbit hutches, densely packed so the developer can turn a profit.

“Good design, human-scale urban planning and world-class insulation get short shrift.”