Housing and shop plan lodged for village
A Scotmid store looks set to be connected to a new 185home housing estate in West Lothian.
The Courier revealed earlier this month that West Lothian Council had just granted planners permission in principle to build 185 new homes in Blackridge.
Now it has been revealed Scotmind have drawn up plans for the much- needed convenience store in the village.
The council already granted permission for the developers to build the retail shop and 27 affordable homes back in January 2020 at the site on Barbuchlaw Burn and land South Of Craiginn Terrace.
The councillor for Blackridge, Stuart Borrowman, says that Scotmid hope to open the new store in the latter half of 2021 and the plans will be submitted by the developer for approval soon.
Councillor Borrowman told The Courier that this new development is crucial for the future of the village.
He said: “If fully developed, this would increase the size of the village by close to one fifth and increase the roll of the primary school by more than that.
“Although the site has been allocated for housing for 15 years, it’ll still be a big change even though I suspect it’ll take some years to build out the site.
“It does provide additional housing choice and the chance to live right by the train station; a new convenience store is part of the wider package; as are 27 bungalows for rent. So,some challenges and some obvious gains for our village.”
A spokesperson for Scotmid said: “We are pleased to say we are interested in expanding in Blackridge and will update the community on these plans as soon as we can.”
A West Lothian Council spokesperson told The Courier they are aware of the plans for Scotmid’s new store.
They said: “We recently received a detailed application for erection of 185 houses, car parking, open space, access and associated infrastructure at Blackridge. This application is currently being assessed with a decision made in due course. An application for 27 affordable houses, as part of the overall development of the site, was approved in January 2020.”