AN AREA of wooded land dubbed a “blot on the existing neighbourhood” by developers could be transformed into four new homes.

A long-running battle to see housing created on a site to the east of Gullane’s Hamilton Road began in 2005.

Plans were given the green light eight years later, despite residents’ concerns about impact on privacy and also the impact on trees and wildlife on the site.

New plans were lodged last year by Mr John Mackie but the scheme was withdrawn before East Lothian Council’s planning department could make a decision.

Now, Mr Mackie has submitted another set of plans, which shows four two-storey homes on the site.

A design and access statement, included with the plans, reads: “The project represents an excellent opportunity to develop an existing backland/infill area of land that has been left unmanaged for years and is now overgrown with trees that are significantly out of scale and character for this residential area.

“The site is currently a ‘blot’ on the existing neighbourhood.”

None of the new homes on the site would be classed as affordable housing.

Access to the site would come from an extension to Hamilton Road, which is home to both the village’s day centre and medical centre.

The developer describes the area as “overgrown with scrub, self-seeded planting and some planted trees that have become overgrown and inappropriate for the site”.

The vegetation would be removed to make way for the new homes.