A plan for a bigger convenience store and extra retail unit at the St Clements Wells housing development in Wallyford has been given the go-ahead by East Lothian Council.

The new commercial centre, which includes consent for a hot food takeaway, will be built on the southeast part of the land, where it had also been hoped to establish a new GP surgery for the area.

A consultation response received from East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) during determination of a planning application last year advised that NHS capacity planning identified no requirement for a healthcare facility at this location.

Seven terraced units instead of six, centrally located within the site, have now been approved.

The large retail unit would have an M-shaped dual-pitched gable roof and each of the smaller units would have dual-pitched gable roofs, all finished in grey-profiled metal panels.

Jonathan Brindle, of East Lothian Developments Ltd (ELDL), said: “ELDL are delighted that this consent has been issued and grateful to East Lothian Council for their continued support to ensure that the commercial offering at St Clements is brought forward as quickly as possible.

“ELDL will now work closely with the party who wish to build the retail units and Dunedin Canmore, who are building the affordable flats to the rear, to ensure that the building work is carried out as efficiently as possible to minimise any impact on both the adjoining primary school and the adjoining secondary school once that is open in the summer.”

He said that the previous planning consent for a GP surgery was still there but added: “Unless the NHS want it we are unfortunately stuck, no matter how much it is wanted by the community.

“We took the totality of the land we got consent for previously for both the NHS and retail, and used all of that to accommodate a slightly bigger convenience store and an extra retail unit in this new consent.

“The original planning consent for the whole of St Clements required a commercial centre as part of the final layout.

“This is now the detailed consent to implement that.

“The previous detailed consent we got in 2022 had six units plus the NHS facility – this one just has seven units.”

To the west of the site is land approved for residential development and to the east lies Masons Way, part of an approved distributor road serving the “Wallyford expansion area”, with cycle/footpaths and bus stops on either side of it.

Beyond that lies undeveloped land identified by the masterplan for new housing.

The application site is bounded to the south by the existing access road of Futures Way, which serves the new Wallyford Primary School beyond.

To the north of the site is the land of the new secondary school learning campus, which is currently under construction.

Main vehicular access to the site will be taken from an access road to the north, from a road junction formed on the west of the main spine road of Masons Way.

The access road to the north of the site will provide access to 91 vehicle parking spaces, to be formed to the east and south of the proposed units and including accessible spaces.

A further three parking spaces will be formed on that access road.

It is proposed that 15 per cent of vehicle parking spaces will provide access to EV charging facilities.

The access road to the north will also provide access to a service yard to the rear (west) of the proposed units, to be enclosed by a 1.8m-high brick wall and mesh security gates.

Main pedestrian footpath access will be provided from Masons Way to the east of the site and from Futures Way to the south, to link with the proposed flatted development to the west.

A number of cycle and footpaths will also be formed on the north and south access roads.

Areas of landscaping laid to grass and featuring tree and shrub planting will be provided on areas to the east of the proposed vehicle parking areas.

Planning approval has been given for up to a maximum of 1,450 new homes on the St Clements Wells site.