CONCERNS over proposals to bring a new use to a former golf and leisure club have been aired at a public meeting.

Whitekirk Golf and Country Club closed over two years ago, with plans revealed late last year to revamp the site.

A two-day public exhibition is due to take place on March 23-24 outlining Whitekirk Hill, c/o Zest Capital Management’s plans for the site.

Two separate planning applications are expected to be submitted over the next four months.

The first application is to be lodged within a matter of weeks and focuses on the currently disused clubhouse.

Documents will outline plans to redevelop the facility to open it as a gym/health club, cafe, restaurant and indoor/outdoor play area.

If approved, the building could re-open next spring.

The second planning application focuses on a number of holiday lodges, with potentially as many as 200 to be created.

Ahead of the exhibition, a public meeting, which was attended by about 50 people, was held in Whitekirk Village Hall last Friday.

Jim Wilkie, from Zest Capital Management, attended, along with Tony Thomas, of APT Planning and Development.

Eric Martin, who is part of Dunpender Community Council and Whitekirk Community Company, said that details were now slightly clearer but there were still concerns to be addressed.

He said: “The things we expressed concerns about were noise pollution and light pollution.

“In the evenings it is very dark here.”

Concerns were also raised about the potential size of the development, although it is likely to start off on a smaller scale with a view to becoming bigger.

Mr Martin added: “We feel overall it is difficult for the moment for the residents of the community to make a stance because we have not been fully informed.

“We have only got the big headline number of potentially 200 lodges.”

A spokesman for the developer said that the intention was to start with a

“small scale development of approximately 20 lodges, give it time to bed in, then develop the next phase”.

He added: “Locals seem very open to the idea of a new clubhouse complex and small-scale development.

“Understandably they are more concerned over the uncertainty that would surround a much larger-scale proposal.”