East Lothian Planning Committee met on Tuesday 1 April and discussed three applications, including the erection of 22 holiday lodges at Whitekirk Hill, North Berwick.
Whitekirk Hill is a tourism and leisure facility, half a mile from the village of Whitekirk, and was formerly the Whitekirk Golf and Country Club. Planning permission in principle was granted in July 2020 for a maximum of 41 holiday lodges and associated development on the site, which also features a mixed-use, multi-function leisure club facility with restaurant, bar and café facilities, gym and swimming pool and indoor/outdoor children's play areas.
Permission was granted in November 2020 for the construction of nine of those lodges. The current application is for the next phase of development, of 22 lodges, which is part retrospective as a number of the holiday lodges and their associated access roads and parking areas have already been installed on the site. Phase two features 12 three-bedroom lodges and 10 micro lodges with one bedroom each.
No objections or representations had been received. The application was approved with nine votes and one abstention.
Committee members also agreed, nine votes to one, to approve the erection of an agricultural building and vehicular access at Boggs Holdings, Pencaitland. Planners had recommended approval of the application. It was discussed at committee after being called off the Scheme of Delegation by Councillor Akhtar due to local concerns. Seven letters of objection had been received raising various issues including road safety, tree removal and the size of the proposed shed. Following a debate, an additional condition was added to the planning consent, that agricultural vehicles should only use the new access and not the lane currently used by residential properties.
A development of two new houses on the site of an existing house, ‘Davanmore’, Gosford Road, Longniddry, was unanimously approved. It had been called off the Scheme of Delegation List by Councillor Bruce due to comments submitted by Longniddry Community Council on the appropriateness of what was being proposed, which they thought might constitute overdevelopment. Five objections had been received, raising concerns including a potential loss of privacy to neighbouring properties and the capacity of the site to accommodate two new properties.
Each of the two new houses will be two-storey and feature front and back gardens, two off-street parking spaces, driveways, stone paving external patios and electric vehicle charging points. Following a site visit and a debate at committee, the plans were approved.
The relevant application numbers are: Whitekirk, 23/00786/AMM and 18/01123/PPM; Boggs Holdings, 24/00788/P and Longniddry, 24/01416/P.