Builders reveal Winchburgh vision of future
A housing developer has released new plans for part of the £1billion expansion of a West Lothian village.
The illustrated images feature street scenes of the town centre, new market square, bordered by new retail and commercial buildings, as well as the canal marina.
The expansion of Winchburgh, creating 3800 homes, including affordable and social options, will see the village eventually becoming a town.
Work will be ongoing for at least another decade on the 347-hectares but the developers are already making progress.
Five housebuilders are working in partnership on 407 quality new homes in the second phase of the commitment to deliver the 3800 new homes.
Construction on the canal marina is well underway and scheduled to be completed by spring.
The Courier has reported recently on the proposed motorway junction and railway station in the village.
John Hamilton, chief executive, Winchburgh
Developments Ltd, said: “With work progressing rapidly across Winchburgh, these images provide an excellent preview of the completed town centre, and the exceptional new amenities that this will afford the community here.
“The canal marina, which has always been such an important part of the delivery of the masterplan, brings a unique character and fantastic new leisure and commercial facilities to the area, while the market square will provide new retail facilities, food and drink outlets and office space.
“These images perfectly capture what we are working hard to build here, and why Winchburgh is leading the way as one of the most exciting and ambitious placemaking projects in the country.”
Planning permission has been granted on a new development with over 200 homes in West Lothian.
The developers Bellway Homes Ltd (Scotland East) & Gladman Developments will build 179 houses and 32 flats with roads, paths, landscaping and associated works.
An amendment to the original planning permission, to build another four houses, was approved on February 15 by West Lothian Council.
The developers are planning a wide range of homes including cottage flats and terraced and semi-detached houses at the site on Gregory Road, Kirkton Campus, in Livingston.
LivingstonVillage Community Council were in favour of the proposal but have expressed concerns about education provisions in the area, roads and traffic volume and the safety over the proposed pond that is to be built in the new development.
Craig McCorriston, head of planning, economic development and regeneration, said: “The layout and design of the development provides for an efficient use of the land which lies within walking distance of Livingston town centre.
“An area of open space has been provided within the development to act as a public park and details of a community building have been prepared for future development.
“While acoustic barriers are required to mitigate against road noise, these can be well landscaped and integrated within the existing mature landscaping adjacent to the site.
“The proposals therefore accord with the terms of the adopted West Lothian Local Development Plan, 2018 and there are no material considerations to indicate that the application should not be granted.”
Lidl is set to open its new supermarket in Broxburn on Thursday.
The new store on East Mains Street will replace its existing shop on Greendykes Road, which will close at 5pm on Wednesday.
Part of a new Broxburn development, the store will operate an increased sales area of 1410m2 and house facilities including a bakery, customer toilets, baby changing and ample parking for cars and bicycles.
Opening times will be 8am to 10pm Monday to Saturday, and 8am to 9pm on Sunday.
Lidl GB’s regional head of property, Gordon Rafferty, said:“We would like to thank all those who have played a part in improving our Lidl store in Broxburn.
“It is great for us to be able to create more jobs and investment opportunities in the area, and we can’t wait to start serving our multi-award winning products to the local community once again.”
The new store will also be providing surplus food and customer donations to Broxburn Family Centre for their ongoing work with local families, and Winchburgh Food Store who provide food to those in need locally.
This is delivered through Lidl’s
Feed it Back scheme, which is run in partnership with Neighbourly and connects Lidl stores up and down the country with local charities, foodbanks, community cafes and kitchens, putting quality food surplus to good use every day.
Lidl is operating a range of social distancing measures to help maintain a safe store environment for both colleagues and customers.
These include clear communication across the store, including floor markings, reminding customers of the importance of maintaining a two-metre distance from each other when shopping, along with regular tannoy announcements.
Dedicated cleaning stations are also in place at store entrances, including hand sanitiser, disinfectant and wipes, for customer to use on their trolleys and baskets.
Additionally, the supermarket has installed protective screens at checkouts and protective visors and masks have been made available for colleagues to wear in accordance with guidance and is continuing to encourage customers to pay by contactless payment methods where possible.