I beg to bring the following matters to your readers’ attention that they might better judge the wisdom of the so-called energy park and other proposals for East Lothian.

When taken together, proposed sites are a virtual overlay to the field of combat at the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans, the most significant event in the county’s history. And it has most recently been the inspiration for a global revival of interest in tapestry.

It is also the backdrop for the entrance of Lord John Grey, a notable character of the acclaimed writings of the US author Diana Gabaldon.

Ms Gabaldon has 25 million book sales behind her, with signings reportedly disappearing around the block according to Mike Cantlay OBE, the chairman of visitscotland. A subsequent television series has also enjoyed critical success, while a feature film is under consideration, I understand.

A writer who successfully blends romantic historical fiction with the sci-fi element of ‘Life on Mars’ genre seen in the UK, her period of choice, the Jacobite history of Scotland, through her ‘Outlander’ titles, have much to commend them and certainly no shortage of material. If the small screen production, already noted for its attention to detail, has done her books justice the series will make excellent viewing indeed.

More interestingly, the work has been favourably compared to Game of Thrones, the production that brought nearly half a billion pounds worth of prosperity to Northern Ireland in the absence of suitable studio facilities in Scotland. Indeed Mr Cantlay’s visitscotland has devoted a whole page of their website, while he is on record saying: “The television series is potentially huge for Scotland and could well be our answer to Game of Thrones.” He goes on to say Scotland is the real star, its history, fine scenery and romance, confiding that research has shown that one fifth of this country’s visitors are motivated to come by television images.

There can surely be no greater irony then with ‘Outlander’ about to burst on to British screens this year, that the site of the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans, where Gabaldon’s Lord John Grey character features prominently, is under imminent threat of desecration from ill-conceived development. Well, saying that, there is perhaps one, for the battle site actually overlooks Cockenzie Power Station, one of the largest, most versatile covered spaces in Europe. Moreover, it is presently being decommissioned in part at least.

In the current climate, it now looks less likely that energy generation will ever resume at the site, with planning consent for the ‘conventional’ gas supply already lapsed. This while we learn that a proposed new-build studio suggested for Straiton offers the prospect of up to 900 jobs – as welcome a feature there as it surely would be in East Lothian.

Could Cockenzie Power Station be adapted to the studio role, some ask? Well, the Tate Modern in London is often cited as a suitable precedent, although in truth it is much smaller. For at the Cockenzie edifice, both combustion and turbine halls are truly vast; not only that, they have versatile floor and level options and each has the ‘scenery’ cranes demanded by world-class film and television industries.

If ever there was a hand to glove situation, then surely this is it. Just how can a supposedly ‘tourist oriented’ local authority, one even so demonstrably partisan as East Lothian, ignore the Gabaldon phenomenon that has seen tour companies inundated by bookings elsewhere in Scotland? Worse choose instead to desecrate graves of the mostly English soldiers who lost their lives at the Battle of Prestonpans. But hey, what’s a battle here or there to East Lothian Council, for the county had its share of historic skirmishes. Beyond the Scots victory (a rare event even then), is there anything that marks out this particular battle?

Could it be perhaps that this single event, in 1745, actually gave voice to a verse in the British national anthem, the seldom-performed verse six?

The energy park proposal simply beggars belief.

David J. Ostler Steering committee Coastal Regeneration Alliance