New school for growing village Wallyford

A secondary school is set to be built in an attempt to cope with the volume of students expected after plans for new houses around a Lothian village double in size.

East Lothian Developments – which already has planning permission for 1000 homes and a primary school around Wallyford – said it wants to double the number of houses and also create a “centre of educational excellence”, expanding their Salters Road site into Dolphingstone.

The company recently submitted an application to East Lothian Council seeking to increase the number of homes being built to 1450 – with ­proposals for a further 600 units and a secondary school set to be lodged with planning chiefs in May.

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The Scottish Government has said 10,000 new houses need to be constructed in East Lothian over the next ten years.

Alister Hadden, vice-chairman of the Wallyford Community Council, said the plans were something local people would be “quite comfortable with”.

He said: “Developments are always going to happen. A primary school and a secondary school on the same campus would be quite a nice thing.”

The proposals also include traffic-calming measures along Salters Road, as well as shops, sports pitches and woodland regeneration.

A community consultation over the new blueprints is set to be held at The Loch Centre in Tranent from 2pm to 8pm today.

Martin Quinn of East Lothian Developments said locals had been “very supportive” of the development.

He said: “We think by having the primary school and secondary school sitting together we can get a centre of educational excellence. That will help retain that sense of community, but it will also help reduce pollution because there is a single drop-off point.

“We are trying to get that model of sustainable development. This is a regeneration for Wallyford.”

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An East Lothian Council spokesman said: “East Lothian Council officials are aware of the landowner’s interest in a larger development at Wallyford. We are considering this in the review of the East Lothian Local Plan 2008 and the idea is being consulted on by the council through its Main Issues Report.

“However, there is no confirmed support for a larger development at Wallyford at this stage, including the prospect of any new secondary education facilities being provided at this site or elsewhere in the Musselburgh area.

“It is the task of the council’s Local Development Plan to set the future planning strategy for the area.”

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