Lovell Homes have been granted approval to build 91 new homes on what is currently open land on the south eastern fringe of Dechmont on the boundary with the A899.
Developers had earlier won an appeal to Scottish Ministers and permission in principle was granted for up to 120 homes on the site.
Planning officer Gillian Cyphus told a meeting of the Development Management committee: “The application site, which is currently an undeveloped field, is located at the eastern edge of Dechmont, between Main Street, the A899, A89 and Dechmont Roundabout. To the south and west existing housing partly backs onto or overlooks the site.
The site is bounded on all sides by dense hedgerow and trees which will be mostly protected.
Planning papers detailed: “A hedgerow runs along the northern boundary, where the site access is proposed. Trees and hedgerow also line the eastern edge, adjacent to the A899.
“A small watercourse runs along the south of the site, with an area of scrub and woodland covering the far south of the site, in an area that is poorly drained and will not be developed.”
While the application attracted 30 objections, including one from the village community council, a representative of the council Ian Watt told the DMC that the main concerns was that no play areas were planned on the new estate. The nearest play area is within the regulated distance at 500m. However, as Mr Watt pointed out, that means children having to walk the length of an often-busy main street the reach the existing play park.
Mr Watt also raised concerns about Mown paths planned for grassy areas surrounding the development. These areas were known as marshland and the paths would often be soaking wet and difficult to maintain.
The community council accepted that the developers have changed plans and also indicated that they wanted to keep as much of the hedgerow as possible.
Councillor Willie Boyle expressed concern about road degradation surrounding the site during construction and asked if monitoring by both the council and the developers could be conditioned. This was agreed.
Agents for the developers stressed that they had met regularly with the community including the community council to ensure that the design would fit in with the village including the design of access points and specific buildings.
The development will include a range of house sizes and include a percentage of affordable homes to let.
The development will add to housebuilding at the Bangour Village site at the western end of the village as Dechmont transforms from a once isolated village on an largely empty A89 to a busy commuter corridor settlement just north of Livingston’s boundary.
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter
