THE first trucks will head to the former Cockenzie Power Station site on Monday to start transferring material from nearby bunds to help get the site ready for future development.

East Lothian Council says that work to date on the majority of the site – which saw its coal-fired power station close in 2013 and its iconic chimneys brought down in a controlled explosion nine years later – has been focused around creating the infrastructure to allow bund material from its former coal store to the site, including putting up security fencing and reinforcing Edinburgh Road, which lies between the two sites, so the trucks can cross.

The council bought the giant 230-acre site from ScottishPower in 2018 with a vision of creating employment and an economic centre from it.

Public consultations and masterplans have taken place as the local authority looks for investors for the site, with interest to date coming from green energy firms.

On part of the site, Inch Cape Offshore Limited (ICOL) is already building storage facilities, which will bring energy from an offshore windfarm onto land and into the National Grid.

Nearby, white buildings and a car park have been constructed which the council says relates to the ICOL project and will return to council once that project is complete.

When trucks start arriving on site with bund material next week, the truck crossing will be manned and light-controlled to ensure pedestrian, cyclist and vehicle safety, the council says, while an ecological clerk of works is attached to the project to oversee vegetation removal and compliance with ecological conditions.

READ MORE: Cockenzie Power Station site: Removal of bunds at coal store approved

It is estimated that the bund material transfer stage of the works will be completed in spring next year, but remaining bund works will continue to the end of 2025, with the works 90 per cent funded by the UK Government.

Meanwhile, work on a new link road will get under way soon, with that project due to be completed by the end of next summer.

The new road will link the Alder Road junction on the B6371 approach to Cockenzie with the existing B1348 road. Much of the route will follow an existing service road to the former coal plant and be complemented by a lane, largely set back from the main roadway, to encourage safe walking and cycling.

Hub South East is the council’s development partner on this project and Balfour Beatty is carrying out the works on site.

More details and regular updates on the project are available at eastlothian.gov.uk/info/210547/planning_and_building_standards/12312/former_cockenzie_power_station/5