Background and Progress to Date
The council purchased the former hospital site from NHS Lothian in April 2020, with support from the Scottish Government, when the hospital’s services moved to the new East Lothian Community Hospital.
The Council have always been aware that future development needs to be done in a sensitive manner, taking into account the unique nature of the site including its size, location, listed buildings and existing green space and mature trees. We know that this is important to the local community.
Detailed investigative work has been completed to understand how best to bring forward proposals that maintain the integrity and heritage of the site, whilst also strengthening its role as a valued community asset.
Our initial proposals focus on agreeing a masterplan for the development, which will hopefully see much needed affordable housing for older people, as well as the opportunity to meet the needs of the wider community within East Lothian. We are looking at a mix of affordable new build and refurbished properties that will assist in meeting East Lothian’s growing demand.
Over the past three years, the council’s Housing Service has been working closely with East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership to assess the likely levels of demand for housing for older people.
In 2022, to improve safety on site and maintain public access, the council completed necessary grounds maintenance, demolition of non-listed buildings and asbestos removal, as well as installing new security measures to prevent antisocial behaviour.
East Lothian Council lodged a Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) for the masterplan to redevelop the site in January 2023
As part of the planning process, a three month public consultation was carried out between January and April 2023. The results of the consultation are summarised in this report.
A planning application in principle was registered on 30 November 2023. Further information is provided on the Planning Application page.
There are also further consultations planned, on the health and wellbeing aspects of the proposals and for the detailed planning application. We will provide further information on the timescale for these in early 2024.