Ten year west lothian plan raises concern as council given just weeks to agree

COUNCILLORS MAY HAVE JUST OVER A MONTH BEFORE THEY ARE ASKED TO AGREE TO A 1,000-PLUS PAGES DRAFT OF EVIDENCE TO SUBMIT TO THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT FOR A NEW LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN. 14:14, 02

Jun 2025 Concern has been raised over the amount of time West Lothian councillors have been given to consider a ten-year planning blueprint for the area. Councillors may have just over a

month before they are asked to agree to a 1,000-plus pages draft of evidence to submit to the Scottish Government for a new Local Development Plan. The plan is a guide to what happens in the

county between 2028 and 2038, and covers housing development, infrastructure, transport, and communities. But the initial hefty document brought more questions and criticism than answers

this week. READ MORE: New West Lothian railway station plans 'imminent' amid hope it could open by 2030 Linlithgow’ Lib Dem councillor Sally Pattle told a meeting of the Economy

Community Empowerment and Wealth Building PDSP that she had “serious concerns” that councillors would have enough time “ to get this right.” The document - 1059 pages long - is the combined

two years of evidence gathered which has to be presented to the Division of Planning and Environmental Appeals DPEA to be “ gate checked” as the foundation of the next Local Development Plan

(LDP). Article continues below This broad brush approach to evidence gathering threw up anomalies and outdated information which the SNP’s Andrew Miller highlighted, including one

suggestion that three buses served Livingston Village when in fact none do. Only half way through the meeting did councillors find out that council officers had based their ward evidence on

community council boundaries, which threw up anomalies such as bus services. Councillors also picked over the lack of details in individual sections of the report demanding more detail be

included before a final draft goes to a meeting of the full council and then on to the DPEA. READ MORE: Volunteers celebrate 3,500 hours of devotion at Dogs Trust West Calder’s base

Councillor Susan Manion stressed on several occasions that this was the first draft of the document and was open to change and improvement. All councillors moved to praise officers for the

amount of work that has gone into the first draft. Councillor Pattle said: “I am now seriously concerned as I have sat here for the past ninety minutes, it’s been revealed that we are

supposed to go to full council to agree this and that its five weeks time. “I was under the impression that when it went to full council it would be after recess in September, giving us

months to prepare for this.” Addressing the ranks of planning officers seated in the Livingston chamber, councillor Pattle continued: “I appreciate your time today and I’m sorry that we have

come across as hyper local but that’s our job. READ MORE: Over 12,000 children supported through Scottish Child Payment by families in West Lothian “We are here to scrutinise on behalf of

our wards to make sure this incredibly important document is right when it goes to the gate check. “I am now extremely concerned that we are not going to be given adequate opportunities to

do that.” And she warned: “Developers are going to be watching us like hawks. they are going to be using this as the basis for development for the next ten years. We have to get this right.

I would like some reassurance that we are going to be given enough time to do that.” Fellow Linlithgow Councillor Pauline Orr, SNP, said: “ It’s a huge piece of work and we are the face of

our communities so we absolutely have to get it right.” She praised the “amazing” work of the officers in producing the 1059 pages of evidence. Director of Planning Craig McCorriston moved

to reassure the meeting that he was happy to meet councillors and take additional information from them to correct inaccuracies. READ MORE: Award for popular postmaster who's been

serving community in Livingston for 30 years He said that the draft evidence had to be ready to present to the DPEA by May 2028. The process is defined by government legislation but he

conceded that the time frame for the council to prepare the draft was “tight and we do have to work at speed.” He added: “We have opened up to scrutiny today in a way which we hope is

helpful to members and will engage further in the coming week to go through matters of concern or errors. Then we will ask the Provost to progress to a special meeting of the full council.”

He stressed: “If we get this wrong it is going to independent scrutiny and the DPEA Reporter will send it back to us if we have not gathered enough evidence. I’m pretty confident that we are

just about there but am happy to take that extra few days to go through things with members.” Councillor Willie Boyle said: “ I’m looking forward to further opportunities to discuss it when

it comes to actually putting the plan together. Power to your elbow I know we are up against a time schedule here and I fully accept that. We are where we are with that. We need to get it

done.” READ MORE: Wind can't stop West Lothian teenager as she puts fear aside and Children First with 100ft drop Depute SNP group leader Pauline Stafford said: “I’d like to acknowledge

the work that’s gone into this report and I hope members of the public will take time to read through it as well.” Councillor Stafford added: “ I sit on the Development Management

[Committee] and the reason I do is because I think it has such a vital role to play in all we do in council. "This is what builds strong thriving communities. Planning is often, for

elected members, misunderstood and for the public is often mistrusted, and as much transparency we can provide and show communities we have actually listened is vital.” Article continues

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