A  PROPOSED care village on the outskirts of North Berwick would “ghettoise” its vulnerable community, a local GP warned councillors.

East Lothian Council’s planning committee voted unanimously to reject plans by developers Goldcrest for 152 residential and care units on fields at Castleton Farm, outside the town.

Planning officers had told committee members that the development would be “harmfully prominent” and “grossly out of character” with the surrounding countryside.

And during a virtual meeting of the committee, Dr Claire Doldon, from North Berwick Health Centre, hit out at the proposals to site older people who required medical care in one place outside the town itself.

She said: “Social isolation has a well-established detriment to the health and wellbeing of the elderly.

“This proposal has the potential to ghettoise this community as it is too far to walk into the town.”

Goldcrest told the committee that the care village  was a “positive plan to deliver what is needed for older people”.

A representative said: “We should not see older people as a drain on services, we have to find a way for them to live well. North Berwick has 50 per cent more older people than the Scottish average.”

The proposals would see residences restricted to households having one person over 55 with medical care requirements.

In total, 509 representations were made to the council on the plans, with 506 registering objections. The other three wrote to highlight inaccuracies in the application which have since been resolved.

Goldcrest was asked whether other areas in East Lothian had been considered after its representative Robin Matthew insisted the land proposed for development was the only site big enough in or around North Berwick, adding that there were no brownfield sites available.

He confirmed that Goldcrest had not considered Blindwells – a new town being constructed several miles west of North Berwick.

Objectors raised issues with the size of the development, its impact on the countryside and views, as well as lack of public transport to the site and increase in traffic to the town itself.

Local resident Jay Smith told the committee: “This is a compound on the periphery of North Berwick which will isolate people there.”

Judy Lockhart, North Berwick Community Council, said the group also objected to the proposals.

The community council said: “The site is in a prominent position on the A198, which is a major tourist route, and the envisaged buildings would totally destroy the views that are cherished by visitors and locals alike.”

Councillor Jim Goodfellow, North Berwick Coastal ward member, urged the committee to throw out the application, describing the decision as “straightforward”.

He said: “The only possible decision on this application is to refuse it.

“Our award-winning Local Development Plan was welcomed particularly for its Countryside Around Towns policy, which this breaches.”

Councillor Jane Henderson, also a ward member, also urged the committee to throw out the application.

And committee member Councillor Jeremy Findlay, the third ward member, said: “This application conflicts with at least nine council policies, there are significant objections from local residents. I am not sure why the applicant has even taken it this far.”

The planning committee unanimously supported its officers’ recommendation to refuse planning permission, with some members pointing to the ‘commercial’ aspect of basing it at North Berwick.

Councillor Colin McGinn said: “That aspect of Blindwells not being good enough, North Berwick sells, does a disservice to this type of provision because if you truly, honestly believe this kind of development is needed then basing it on ‘the North Berwick area will sell’ is not good enough.”