A VISION FOR LINLITHGOW 2005 - 2015
The Latest on the Civic Trust's Objection to the West Lothian Local Plan
- A Public Inquiry Looms
by Phil Murray
Members will recall that the Civic Trust submitted a 'holding' objection to
the finalised West Lothian Local Plan in July 2005. Much of the autumn was taken
up with preparation of an alternative development strategy for Linlithgow,
entitled 'A Vision for Linlithgow 2005-15', details of which were finalised at a
Special General Meeting of the membership on 29 November after the circulation
of a draft to all members.
This document was submitted to West Lothian Council on 12 December, as a
formal objection to the West Lothian Local Plan. It is anticipated that the
Council may wish to meet with the Civic Trust to discuss the objection in
advance of the Local Plan Inquiry, which is likely to take place in May 2006.
The basis of the objection is that the West Lothian Local Plan fails to set
out a coherent strategy for the future development of Linlithgow, relying
instead on the existing 'policy of restraint' a policy which, in the view of the
Trust, is discredited, to the extent that it now verges on a 'policy of
neglect'.
The 'Vision for Linlithgow 2005-2015', in contrast, sets out a strategy based
upon
- controlled expansion of the town, linked, via a master-planning process,
to the provision of a range of essential community facilities, including
- the priority of an effective traffic management system across the town as
a whole, including motorway junction upgrading, High Street bypass
provision, an enhanced public transport network and associated traffic
calming measures.
The 'Vision for Linlithgow 2005-2015' document (as amended at the Special
General Meeting) is available for download here, on the Trust's website (see
below), and copies are included within the Linlithgow Civic Trust's file in the
public library. Members will be kept informed of the progress of the Trust's
objection and the public inquiry into the West Lothian Local Plan in future
Newsletters.
In view of the large file sizes related to quality graphics, two versions of "A Vision for
Linlithgow 2005 - 2015" are available for download here. Both are
Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Free software for
viewing and printing these files is available from http://www.adobe.com.
The first has good quality illustrations and is suitable for downloading over
broadband, but would take quite a long time to download over a modem or ISDN
connection. The second will download much quicker but has lower quality
illustrations.
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