THE go-ahead has been given for a new multi-use building at Newhailes House & Gardens in Musselburgh.

Newhailes, which dates back to the 17th century, is a Palladian house that played a prominent role in the Scottish Enlightenment and was once the home of the Dalrymple family.

The house and estate is now run as a visitor attraction by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS), which is seeking funding for the multi-use building which has been approved by East Lothian Council.

The new single-storey building will include a gardeners’ workshop/storage and volunteer/community use space.

It will be built on a roughly triangular-shaped area of land measuring 2,039 square metres that is part of a walled garden and is located immediately to the north of the B listed walled kitchen garden, 40 metres to the northwest of the B listed walled flower garden, 90 metres to the northwest of the A listed building of Newhailes House, 60 metres to the west of the Earl of Stair monument, and 55 metres to the south of the shell grotto.

The planning report said that the new building would not “adversely affect” the setting of the listed buildings on the estate. It added: The proposed building and associated works would be used for the storage of educational and horticultural/gardening materials and as volunteer/community event space in association with the National Trust for Scotland’s operational functions and maintenance of the Newhailes Estate.”

Stuart Maxwell, regional director for Edinburgh & East at NTS, said: “We are pleased East Lothian Council has approved planning for a new multi-use building at Newhailes House & Gardens. We submitted the request to the council some time ago and hope this building will be part of plans we are developing for Newhailes.

“As with all our projects, we rely on financial support from other organisations and donors, and we will now seek funding to enable these works.

“We see this project as another opportunity to widen our engagement with the local community and look forward to doing so.”