Controversial plans to create new sports pitches on land adjacent to North Berwick High School have been approved after Scottish Ministers decided not to intervene.

But objectors say they are angered by the way East Lothian Council handled its own planning application, claiming it “leaves local democracy in tatters”.

The proposal, which will see the removal of 142 metres of mature hedgerow, sparked protest from sections of the local community who argued that the plan would cause ecological damage.

The project will see the installation of two full-size rugby pitches on land to the south-west of the current sporting facilities. The site straddles a more-than-300-metre hedgerow and is owned by North Berwick Trust and designated for educational use.

Councillors voted on the pitches application at a planning committee meeting last month; six committee members backed it and five opposed it. But the decision, it was announced, was subject to final approval by Scottish Ministers.

Council officials say they followed this course of action because of the Scottish Government’s Planning Advice Notice 82, which provides guidance on the “expected standards of assessment” of planning applications by local authorities.

They say they made the call based on the substantial amount of objections to the application and the potential conflict of interest given that East Lothian Council was both the applicant and the determiner.

But on Monday, the council confirmed that the pitches would go ahead after ministers decided not to intervene.

When asked by the Courier for an explanation why the application had not been examined by Scottish Ministers, the local authority said that there had been a change in planning policy and that there had been no need to seek Scottish Government approval.

A council spokesperson said: “Planning committee agreed that the application had been the subject of a substantial body of objections. Planning committee therefore decided that the proposal should be notified to Scottish Government before planning permission was granted.

“We notified Scottish Government of the council’s intention to grant planning permission.

“Scottish Government confirmed that the notification procedures have changed since the publication of PAN82, and that there was no longer a requirement to notify a local authority interest development that has been the subject of a substantial body of objections.

“The Scottish Government confirmed that they would not consider the case further and advised that the council can continue to process the application as appropriate.

“Planning permission was thereafter granted.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson confirmed this, adding: “The council confirmed that it was not required to notify the application to the Scottish Government, and determined it without any formal involvement from the Scottish Ministers.”

But this outcome has angered local groups who opposed the proposal.

Kathy Duncan, chair of Sustaining North Berwick, said that referring the application to the Scottish Government would have been “the proper thing to do” due to “the controversy over the plan and the narrow majority in favour”.

She added: “At our well-attended Climate Cafe meeting on Saturday, there was huge frustration over the committee’s decision and great dissatisfaction with the process of the [planning committee] meeting where it was felt the council had failed to separate its roles of applicant and planner.

“Despite declaring a nature emergency only seven days earlier, the council chose to disregard both national and local policies on biodiversity and climate change.

“We will not meet targets for restoring nature if we repeatedly overlook small areas of woodland that nevertheless provide important elements of nature networks.”

Alison Clark, a parent and fellow member of Sustaining North Berwick, claimed the process had “brought East Lothian Council into disrepute” and “leaves local democracy in tatters”.