A DECISION to back plans to use more than £11 million of Levelling Up funds to remove giant bunds on council-owned land has been described as setting a "new level of self-interest" by one objector.

East Lothian Council’s planning committee this week approved plans to take material used to create the bunds at a coal store site linked to the former Cockenzie Power Station and use it to infill part of the site to make it more developable.

But committee members heard that nearly 50 objections to the proposals had been lodged, with concerns about the noise, dust, possible asbestos release and impact on wildlife all raised.

READ MORE: Plans submitted for work at site of former Cockenzie Power Station

And one local resident told the meeting that the £11.4 million grant that East Lothian Council received for ‘Levelling Up’ was not meant to be literal, referring to plans to use materials from the bunds to fill in a four-metre-deep area of the former power station.

He said: “This grant [application] has been made by the council, it will be based on a council proposal for council-owned land and unless the decision is called in, it will obtain planning consent from the council. It puts the definition of self-interest in a new light.

“The public sees this, though, and doesn’t think it is very fair or reasonable.”

Mr Jones questioned whether the work at the site was "essential" as described in the application for the Levelling Up grant, suggesting it could be put to better use in the surrounding communities.

He said: “Why is there no work planned at Cockenzie Harbour or Prestonpans? I was told by a senior officer of the council that this was being included.

“The boat club has no slipway, the old pipeline in Prestonpans is deteriorating and Cockenzie Harbour has a hole in it you could park a U-boat in.

"Both towns are at risk from sea level change but this bid does nothing for them, other than protect the council’s own land like an island between the towns.”

Wildlife concern

The report on the planning application put before the planning committee did not mention the full cost of the enabling work planned for the 37-hectare site, which was bought by the council from ScottishPower six years ago to promote its ambition to grow the economy and create jobs in the county.

To date, the only proposals approved on the site have been for two substations to bring energy onto land from offshore windfarms and a battery storage facility.

The meeting was told that the work to use materials from the bunds to infill the site would release more land on the site which could be developed.

However, members heard from local resident Brian Hall, who also objected, raising concerns about the presence of asbestos within areas planned for demolition and the impact on nearby residents' health.

And Bryan Hickman, chairman of Cockenzie and Port Seton Community Council, also put forward the group's objection to the plans.

He said that he had carried out a number of surveys of wildlife on the bunds, identifying a number of birds on the amber list because of declining numbers, as well as grey partridges which were on a red endangered list.

He said that claims the council could mitigate for the loss of biodiversity by creating a new site on nearby fields were not acceptable, as it would take years for a new site to develop.

At the meeting on Tuesday, Councillor John McMillan, the administration’s economic development spokesperson, said that he did not know what the remaining land would be used for but supported plans to enable its development.

And he said that he was confident conditions imposed on the application would cover concerns by residents as work was carried out.

He said: “We have acquired a site which is major. There are around five hectares which are four to five metres deep, which does need literally levelling up, and I’ve been very proud of our officers' work, particularly during Covid, particularly when they were under pressure to get that Levelling Up application in.

“The levelling up at the coal store and power station site will mean there will be different platforms and, quite frankly, I don’t know what will come in there, but I know what is proposed will help us bring in jobs; good, green jobs.”

The committee unanimously approved the planned work.

The council said that phase one of the work would be undertaken over five months and phase two over nine months.

Phase one will involve the formation of a temporary haul road, the removal of most of the bunds around the coal store site and the transportation of bund to infill the site of the former power station; phase two involves the removal of another section of bund and associated infrastructure, including a concrete coal conveyor tunnel, and the re-grading of the coal store site with bund material.

Conditions of the permission include management plans for dust and noise , as well as a detailed remediation statement which will demonstrate how the identified asbestos contamination will be dealt with in order to remove unacceptable risks.

The council said that a biodiversity enhancement and restoration plan (BERP) would also be submitted in consultation with NatureScot, setting out in detail the habitat enhancement and compensatory measures to take place, including the provision of new artificial hibernation roosts for bats to be formed prior to the phase two works taking place.