So we’ve all had our chance to comment on the Local Plan Main Issues Report, with its emphasis on development in the west of East Lothian.

Given that this so-called compact growth strategy for our county would swamp Musselburgh with new housing, increasing its population by something like 50 per cent over the next few years, it should firmly be rejected.

The town simply does not have the capacity to accommodate this kind of growth and that is clear to all who live here and witness daily the traffic congestion and parking problems, not to mention the overcrowding on the trains.

The numbers proposed for the Musselburgh cluster should be dramatically reduced and redistributed by a variety of means. Certainly there should be no major development at Goshen because much of the traffic generated will surely be channelled into and through the town centre.

It seems to me that the best location for new housing in the cluster, over and above that which is already planned, is to the south west of the town. Not only is this associated with proposed new employment areas but is nearest to the magnet of Edinburgh and through junction improvements will have much better access onto the A1, channelling traffic away from the town centre.

Barry Turner Carberry Close Musselburgh