A HOUSEBUILDER has included a car park for the village football pitch in plans for a new 90-home estate.

Bellway Homes has lodged a planning application for 86 houses and four flats on the western edge of Elphinstone.

And a report to council next week says the proposals include 15 parking spaces for the football park, which lies next to the site.

The move follows public consultation about the proposals which will create a new gateway into the former mining community.

The report says included in the plans for the new estate are “a total of 15 car parking spaces to provide parking provision for the adjacent football ground".

The new estate, which is part of a larger area of land set aside for housing in the village, will be made up of 67 private houses for sale ranging from two to four bedroom homes and 23 affordable housing units include four two-bedroom flats.

There are also plans to create new woodlands to the west of the site, north of Castlehill, and create new pathways through the area.

Planning officers said they had received four letters of objection to the proposals with concerns ranging from the size of affordable homes being too small, the number of houses too big for the village itself and issues over traffic and infrastructure.

One objector said: “The proposals should be fully rejected by East Lothian Council, who should be fighting to retain the unique characteristics of this and other rural villages in East Lothian, at all costs.”

The local community council did not comment, officers said.

The application is recommended for approval by officers.

Bellway Developments said they plan to create a “new development which builds upon the character and local identity of the surrounding village”.

They said: “The design of the new residential streets will reflect the character of the site and be in accordance with the principles of Designing Streets.”