EAST Lothian’s new town of Blindwells will welcome pupils to its own primary school in two years, after developers said the land would be handed over by December – but plans for a secondary school have been shelved for now.

Developers Hargreaves told a meeting of East Lothian Council’s planning committee that the site of the new school would be ready by the end of the year.

It is expected that the first intake of children will join for the 2024/25 school year.

A virtual meeting of the committee approved a revised masterplan for the new settlement, which will see 1,600 homes, a town centre, loch and leisure facilities, and the school.

It replaced the original masterplan, drawn up in 2014, which set aside land for a dual primary and secondary school campus.

However, developers said that changes to education requirements meant secondary provision was now likely to be considered in future development of a "greater Blindwells site".

East Lothian Courier: A new Blindwells masterplan has been approved. Image: East Lothian Council planning portal

A new Blindwells masterplan has been approved. Image: East Lothian Council planning portal

Primary school pupils who move into Blindwells before the facility is available are being accommodated in neighbouring Cockenzie Primary School.

Preston Lodge High School, in neighbouring Prestonpans, is expected to undergo a major extension to create additional provision for Blindwells families.

The council has about £9 million secured from developers at Blindwells and housing sites in Prestonpans and Longniddry to expand the secondary school.

During the planning meeting, Iain Slater from Hargreaves said that the masterplan had been revised to take into account updated information on the groundworks at the site and changes to people’s lifestyles

He said: “While housing needs have remained the same, the way we live our lives has changed, shopping patterns have changed, our work-life balance has changed and is continuing to change post-Covid.

“People are working from home and looking for facilities in the immediate vicinity, whether it is shops for meeting, open space for exercise or to clear their heads.”

Mr Slater said that the masterplan includes 54 hectares of green space when the council’s Local Development Plan only required nine hectares for the number of new homes.

And he said that the town centre was being revised after remediation work revealed that buildings could be built higher than two storeys – something not originally considered in its planning.

He also pointed out the change to the school campus plans on the new layout, saying: “When the original application came, there was an education view going on on whether there should be a secondary/primary or just a primary, and secondary at Preston Lodge, and that is what ultimately has come through.

“There is probably another 15 years of development on site here.”

READ MORE: Family of five become first residents of new town of Blindwells

The original Blindwells masterplan set aside nearly nine hectares of land for the dual school campus.

The primary school site will take up just over 4.25 hectares.

A council spokesperson said: “We expect the land for a new primary school at Blindwells to transfer to the council later this year, with the school anticipated to open for academic session 2024-2025.

“The education provision has been planned based on land allocated in the Local Development Plan and planning permission granted for 1,600 houses as part of the first phase of the Blindwells site.

“There is additional land safeguarded within our East Lothian Local Development Plan 2018 (Greater Blindwells), and work is ongoing to decide how best this can be used in future.

“This will involve discussions with a wide range of audiences, especially communities, and will look at the impacts on a number of services and strategies, including education provision.

“The views of communities will be gathered as part of this ongoing process. No decisions have been taken at this stage.”