Planning

A VISION FOR LINLITHGOW 2010 - 2030

Introduction

Linlithgow Civic Trust prepared its original Vision for Linlithgow 2005-2015 document as a constructive response to the finalised draft of the West Lothian Local Plan. Unfortunately, its contents were largely ignored by the Council and the Reporters at the Public Local Inquiry on the grounds that the provisions of the Vision for Linlithgow envisaged, and depended upon, growth of the town to an extent greater than that permitted by the strategic development plan (‘Structure Plan’) for Edinburgh and the Lothians.

The West Lothian Local Plan, which was adopted as the local development plan covering the town of Linlithgow on 13 January 2009, was not significantly different from the previous drafts which were strongly believed to give little or no benefit to the town over the following ten to fifteen years - indeed it seems likely to perpetuate and worsen present-day problems of congestion and under-capacity in local services. Of course, much has recently been achieved at a detailed level through the activities of the Linlithgow and Linlithgow Bridge Town Management Group, but its ability to tackle the major problems in the town are fairly limited, particularly as the effects on public expenditure of the ‘financial downturn’ become manifest.

The opportunity now arises to influence the ‘strategic’ planning policies affecting Linlithgow. The abovementioned Structure Plan for Edinburgh and the Lothians is up for review and will be replaced by a new Strategic Development Plan for South-East Scotland. The first public consultation stage for the strategic development plan will be the Major Issues Report, likely to be issued in June 2010. This document forms the basis of the Trust's submission at this initial stage of consultation.

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Response to the SESPlan Main Issues Report

Linlithgow Civic Trust has commented on the SESPlan Main Issues Report and has formally requested that the Strategic Development Plan for South East Scotland be amended to:

  1. remove Linlithgow as an example of places where development restraint is necessary; and
  2. state that Linlithgow has unique strategic infrastructure needs which may need to be funded through modest housing development (capped at 900 units), undertaken and strictly controlled as part of an action plan for the town.