Proposed hub in Burghmuir would threaten town centres

A PROPOSED hub that would include up to 600 new homes and a hotel would threaten the viability of town centres in Linlithgow and Bo’ness, a retail assessment has found.

A report commissioned by West Lothian Council found that turnover in Linlithgow’s town centre would plummet by 26 per cent if the Wallace Land project went ahead.

Developers are proposing to build a 60-bed care home, neighbourhood centre, supermarket, petrol station and long-stay car park as part of the 48-hectare scheme on Blackness Road in Burghmuir.

The retail assessment carried out by consultant Roderick Maclean Associates said the proposed Burghmuir supermarket could not be accommodated without “threatening the vitality and viability of the town centres of Linlithgow and Bo’ness”.

Wallace Land also submitted a separate planning application last week to build 200 houses on the south side of Blackness Road.