AN APPEAL over plans to build a house in a conservation village has been put on hold after the local authority requested extra time to respond due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The housing proposal drew objections from more than two-thirds of the small rural community for which it was planned. East Lothian Council received 25 letters of objection, many with more than one signature, from residents of Whitekirk, which has a population of 101.

Council planners rejected the plan for a single house on a former quarry in the village but the applicant, G Tuer and Sons, took the case to Scottish Ministers.

And when the Scottish Government Reporter asked the local authority for its response to the appeal, the council asked for an extension due to the impact of Covid-19 on its resources.

A council spokesperson said:  “Due to extra pressure on the workforce at this time, we have written to the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) asking for an extension to the deadline on our response for the planning appeal for a new house at Whitekirk.”

At a meeting of East Lothian Council’s planning committee last November, Councillor Jeremy Findlay said the objections to the house plan, some of which had more than one signature on them, represented “about 70 per cent of the population of the village”.

He urged fellow councillors to refuse planning permission for the house, which would be less than eight metres from the village hall, telling them: “I have never come across such a high level of objection from a community.”

Councillors voted overwhelmingly to throw out the planning application.

Appealing against the decision, the developer’s agent, Wardell Armstrong, insisted the plans met “all relevant national and local planning policies and guidance”.

It says claims by councillors that the house was on a special landscape area – the Whitekirk and Balgone outcrops – were incorrect.

The agent stated: “It is difficult to understand why the planning committee deemed this site to be particularly important in terms of open space and the character or recreation and amenity requirements of the area, to the point where planning permission should be refused.”

The Scottish Government Reporter has asked the council to indicate how much longer it needs to respond.