West Lothian council rejects shops plan for village centre in Bathgate town

Published date19 April 2024
AuthorStuart Sommerville
Publication titleEdinburghLive (Scotland)
Only four retail units were part of a planned village centre first promised two decades ago in the huge housing estate

The bulk of the development would have been high density housing and flats, which none of the neighbours wanted.

There were dozens of objections including from local GPs who said healthcare services could not cope with the development.

Bathgate veteran SNP councillor Willie Boyle branded the proposals "a nonsense" and delivered a lengthy and detailed demolition of the Persimmon Homes plan to build 73 homes and 15 flats on the site at Simpson Avenue and Leyland Road.

He told a meeting of the Development Management Committee this week that the housing plans were " the most desperate attempt to justify a location that I have seen."

Wester Inch was built largely on the sites of the former BMC and other industrial plants, which occupied the area until the early 1980's.

The site planned as a " village centre" was "greened" during the initial housing development and is now used and recognised as open space.

It was always earmarked for development as a retail area. However the latest plans are predominantly for housing . The justification for the changes were that the nature of retailing had changed in the last 20 years.

Neighbours cited fears of extra traffic in the area, which is already heavily congested with motorists especially at school drop off and pick up. The proposals have few parking spaces, which planners accept as part of a wider policy to encourage people out of their cars to healthier and more sustainable travel.

Now with more than 2,000 homes in Wester Inch the area can "feel very oppressive" according to fellow Bathgate councillor...

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