Concerns have been raised by the chair of Prestonpans Community Council that the development at the new town of Blindwells could become “parasitic” to neighbouring communities due to a lack of guaranteed facilities.

DJ Johnston-Smith contacted the Courier following a Preston Seton Gosford Area Partnership meeting last month at which officials from Blindwells landowners Hargreaves Land spoke to members of the community about the development of a new path connecting the new town to Prestonpans Railway Station.

During the meeting, the discussion of other community facilities was also tabled, but many left unsatisfied about the future prospects.

Blindwells is expected to have 1,600 homes in total in its first phase, with further land expected to be expanded into in the future.

Mr Johnston-Smith said: “We have heard a lot about Blindwells over the decades, about how sustainable this new town community is going to be, but without seeing any of the details beyond housing units.

“We are now at the stage where we are hearing that there’s lots of infrastructure and means built into our communities in order to use the facilities in our communities.

“But what we are not seeing is an absolute conviction about building these facilities in Blindwells.

“There’s no long-term aspiration – if it’s not built within five years, you could have your planning adjusted back into housing units – there’s nothing long term.”

The new path, which is due to break ground in March or April next year, was declared “99.8 per cent” ready by developers at the meeting, despite the fact no consultation with the local community had taken place.

This has increased some residents’ concerns, as they worry that a path will increase access to neighbouring facilities while not providing adequate services to the ever-growing Blindwells population.

Mr Johnston-Smith added: “What we are getting is a path to our surgery in Prestonpans, a path to our railway station and a path to our schools.

“None of the actual residential need is being catered for, only what can fit in.

“A new town as it came after the Second World War came with a cinema, church, community and civic buildings. It came with the other things that you need to make a community and there is nothing other than housing blocks here.

“We need a symbiotic relationship, not a parasitic relationship.”

Central to this concern is the lack of promised health-care facilities in the new town, with landowners Hargreaves referring to such a development vaguely as a “wellbeing centre”.

To date, the only confirmed public facility in Blindwells is a primary school which is due to break ground next year, with completion expected in 2024.

The landowners confirmed that the plans for the Blindwells “town centre” (where the wellbeing centre would be located) would be submitted to planning officials at some point next year but construction might not be completed until 2026 at the earliest. The “town centre” would be made up of retail units with apartment-style accommodation above.

Hargreaves hoped that these could house a variety of businesses such as a gym, vet surgery and adjacent supermarket but could not confirm what these would be at this early stage.

Councillor Lachlan Bruce, ward member for Preston Seton Gosford, shared Mr Johnston-Smith’s concerns, believing that the lack of health facilities would only put strain on the neighbouring communities.

He said: “2026 is going to be a long time for the new community at Blindwells to be in place without basic facilities such as a doctors.

“I’ve always firmly believed we should have an infrastructure-first approach to planning to get the facilities people need before you build the houses and move the families in.

“It will also no doubt put existing services in the nearby areas under more pressure, making it hard for those already living in Prestonpans, Cockenzie, Port Seton and Tranent to access those services, and that can’t be right either.”

Bruce Lindsay, development director at Hargreaves Land, was unable to confirm details of when the wellbeing site would come to the development but stressed that it was an “important component” in the amenities Hargreaves hoped to deliver.

He said: “We are very keen to provide a health and wellbeing hub as part of the forthcoming town centre phase of Blindwells.

“Whilst we don’t have any confirmed timescales in place at the moment for such a facility, we are in discussions with NHS Lothian.

“The next step will be for NHS Lothian to confirm their requirements and we can then work on establishing a viable way to deliver it.

“We see it as an important component of the range of new amenities available at Blindwells.”

A spokesperson for East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership said: “The Blindwells development will involve the building of 1,600 homes, as well as a town centre with shops and employment uses, over the next decade.

“NHS Lothian has granted boundary extensions to Prestonpans Medical Practice and the Harbours Medical Practice in Cockenzie to provide access to GP and primary care services to the new residents.

“The Harbours Medical Practice is in the final stages of a major extension, doubling its capacity, and there is sufficient capacity to include the new residents in Blindwells within the two practices’ patient registers.

“Blindwells is noted within the NHS Lothian Premises Strategy for Primary Care in East Lothian and may be able to accommodate its own medical practice as the population grows.

“East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership is working with NHS Lothian to identify the range of services which will be introduced to the Blindwells community, based on population need, in line with the ongoing development at Blindwells.

“At present, no planning application has been submitted for a local ‘wellbeing centre’; however, it is a use that could potentially be accommodated in the proposed town centre.

“Any planning application that comes forward will be assessed in the normal way.”