Planning

A VISION FOR LINLITHGOW 2005 - 2015

Press Release: LCT Publishes its 'Vision for Linlithgow - 2005-15'

Linlithgow Civic Trust has unveiled exciting proposals to transform the High Street and tackle many of the town's most intractable planning problems.

The ideas for Linlithgow town centre being put forward for official consideration would involve:

  • unclogging the High Street of heavy through traffic
  • upgrading the historic environment
  • improving its attractiveness and viability as a shopping area
  • addressing the shortage of parking for cars and tourist buses; and
  • reclaiming for community use, the Burgh Halls, the Victoria Hall and the County Buildings.

These plans are the centrepiece of the Civic Trust's 'Vision for Linlithgow, 2005-15', a dossier of measures to combat what the Trust considers to be a lack of forward thinking by West Lothian Council in its latest Local Plan.

Said Ron Smith, chairman of the Civic Trust: "Many of our members are appalled by the apparent neglect of Linlithgow and have got together to produce a fairly comprehensive alternative vision.

"The proposals being put forward are based on the fact that housing land value in Linlithgow is sky-high", he explained. "Some or most of this value from carefully-planned new developments could be diverted towards large-scale town improvements - it's not a pie-in-the-sky notion".

Other elements of the Trust's vision include:

  • a four-way junction at Burghmuir and a High Street Bypass hidden away north of the loch
  • adequate nursery, primary and secondary educational capacity
  • a solution to the car parking problem related to Linlithgow railway station
  • proposals to attract more visitors to the town
  • areas to be kept free of development, to preserve the town's setting
  • the construction of social-rented and 'affordable' housing to cater for community need; and
  • provision of enhanced recreational, youth and health facilities.

Our 'Vision for Linlithgow' can be inspected in Linlithgow Library and is available here for download (see below).

Chris Long, Secretary of the Civic Trust, pointed out: "The 'Vision' document is the mainstay of our formal objection to the West Lothian Local Plan. By law, it can't be ignored by the Council and it will be debated at the Public Local Inquiry later this year."

He added: "Hopefully, any publicity for the Civic Trust's ideas will spur a community response through the pages of the Journal and Gazette. This would be welcomed".