PROPOSALS to close a Dunbar street and turn another into a one-way road have been shelved.

Hospital Road and Back Road were part of East Lothian Council’s Spaces for People scheme to make temporary changes while coming out of lockdown.

Proposals were drawn up for towns across the county to create physical distancing in streets and to support an expected increase in walking and cycling.

Among the plans for Dunbar was to shut Hospital Road from the traffic lights on the northern side of the railway line to Kennelbrae to the south.

Meanwhile, Back Road was to become one-way, with traffic heading uphill from Belhaven to the entrance to Winterfield Golf Club.

Neither plan will now go ahead and a spokeswoman for the local authority told the Courier: “Back Road and Hospital Road were put forward in our initial request for ideas from the public.

“This was at a time when people were restricted from travelling more than five miles from their homes – there were greater numbers of people taking exercise locally, and fewer cars.

“Further community feedback in the current climate has suggested that these moves are not presently required and so they are not being immediately progressed.

“We continue to keep plans up to date and invite comments on our maps at www.eastlothian.gov.uk/spacesforpeople”

Members of Dunbar Community Council were among those raising concerns about the proposals.

Pippa Swan, the group’s chairwoman, said discussions around the future of Back Road had been ongoing for a considerable period of time.

She said: “We don’t have an opposition to a protected pedestrian route per se.

“What we are frustrated by is the area partnership raised this matter three years ago or more.

“The council paid Peter Brett Associates to carry out a public consultation.

“A report has been prepared and it has been with the council for two years.

“We have asked repeatedly to see the findings of that report but they have never appeared.

“What we were anxious about was whether something was going to be dumped on us that had no joined-up thinking and did not reflect the findings of the Peter Brett report.”

Mrs Swan stressed that the community council was keen to support improved cycle paths and footpaths, particularly for youngsters to get to school.

However, she was concerned that closing Hospital Road would have a knock-on effect on the neighbouring streets.

She added: “We want to be involved with discussions and understand what the outcomes of the discussions are.”