CONTROVERSIAL plans for two car parks in North Berwick have been withdrawn – nearly four years after councillors delayed a decision on the schemes.

East Lothian Council was keen to create car parks at Tantallon Terrace and Marine Parade in the town.

More than 50 spaces would have been created over the two car parks, but now the local authority has withdrawn the applications.

A spokeswoman for East Lothian Council said: “These applications were withdrawn during a regular sweep of ‘legacy’ applications on our system which had not been determined.

“They were put on hold as public opposition to the plans at the time meant that they would be unlikely to be approved in their current form.

“A review of parking management arrangements will be undertaken in North Berwick in due course.”

North Berwick Coastal ward member Councillor Jim Goodfellow called in the plans for Tantallon Terrace.

Local authority proposals, which were recommended for approval when they went before the planning committee in April 2016, showed 15 parking spaces.

Seven written representations were sent to East Lothian Council’s planning department, with five of those objecting to the plans.

Concerns included the impact on the environment and that the “year-round amenity value of the beach should not be sacrificed to make parking easier for summer visitors”.

Mr Goodfellow said: “Since the proposals for the Tantallon Terrace car parks were submitted and put on hold due to the large amount of public opposition, North Berwick Area Partnership, North Berwick Community Council and East Lothian Council roads officers have been working on proposals to give better pedestrian access to the east end of High Street and create more turnover within the existing parking.

“These will be introduced on an experimental basis as soon as practicable under the circumstances and, following an analysis of the results, the council will bring forward further parking management proposals for public consultation to attempt to alleviate the severe parking problems the town experiences.”

The second set of proposals, at Marine Parade, to the west of the other site, had been called in by ward colleague Councillor Tim Day, who stood down at the local authority elections in 2017.

Those proposals, which were also recommended for approval, suggested a car park with four disabled parking bays, 33 car parking spaces, three motorcycle spaces and eight bicycle spaces.

Plans for a third car park, on the town’s Glebe, were also considered at the planning committee meeting in April 2016.

That application was called in by Mr Day and his colleague Councillor David Berry, who also stepped down at the last council elections.

Councillors deferred a decision on the proposals, which were then refused by the planning committee in March the following year.