A BID to build four new homes within the grounds of an historic property has been given the green light – despite Dunbar Community Council stating there was “considerable concern” from the public.

Only one member of the public objected to New Homes for Life’s plans for the garden ground at Lochend Lodge.

However, the community council had lodged a lengthy objection against the plans for the town’s Lochend Road.

Drawings in the planning application show that three of the properties would be constructed to the west of Lochend Lodge, with the fourth home to the south. Each of the new approved homes would be built over two storeys and include four bedrooms.

According to the planning officer’s report, the town’s community council felt it was an “overdevelopment” of the site and questioned the need for four-bedroom properties.

The report reads: “There are many other developers in the area building four-bedroom houses.

“What is lacking is bungalows, people seeking to downsize/needing one-level living who do not wish a flat.

“There is also a shortage of single-person dwellings.”

Lochend Lodge, which also has approved plans for a renovation, is the East Lodge of the former Lochend Estate.

Lochend House was built in 1684 and remodelled by William Burn in the 1820s but was subsequently largely destroyed by fire in 1859.