Builders start talks on town expansion

Land at Letham Mains, to the west of the East Lothian town, has been earmarked by the council to hold 750 homes, which would see Haddington's population of around 9500 expand by up to 20 per cent.

A development consortium consisting of CALA Homes, Mactaggart and Mickel and Taylor Wimpey is beginning a public consultation on proposals for the land and hopes to submit a planning application later this year.

Robin Holder, planning consultant to the developers, said the consortium intended to consult with local people and groups before drawing up the details of its plans.

He said: "The site is one that we recognise has sensitivities. For example, you have some stands of mature trees which will obviously be retained and provide a landscape structure for the site. There's also a number of public rights of way which will need to be protected.

"Regarding house types, I think there will be an extensive range covering different needs, including affordable housing.

"A key issue for us will be design, and it will be important to respect the character of Haddington."

Mr Holder said the scheme would include a local centre which could feature offices and shops, and land would be designated for a primary school.

He added: "We'll be looking at the way the development ties in with the existing community and in terms of the town's infrastructure.

"We do expect that there will be questions regarding particularly the roads, and other infrastructure such as schools.

"We're seeking to create a people-focused development which isn't dominated by roads and cars. The development links onto West Road which has a regular bus service, and the initial transport assessment suggests that there won't be any unacceptable impact on the surrounding road network."

Haddington Community Council chairwoman Jan Wilson said she would be sad to see the expansion get underway because it would change the character of the town: "It's all the infrastructure - once you start building that number of houses, you have to think: are the schools big enough? Are the doctors' surgeries big enough?

"I just feel that if you keep on expanding then you'll lose that small town feel. It's quite a massive development."

However, she said she recognised that the principle of developing on the site had already been approved and added: "We will be looking at the planning application and if there are things we are not happy with we certainly will raise them."

A public exhibition on the proposals will be held at the Haddington Corn Exchange on June 16, noon to 5.30pm and on June 17, noon to 8pm.