West Lothian Council has backed redrawn proposals for its new Local Development Plan.
A meeting of the full council revealed that the blueprint for the future of West Lothian will carry the fingerprints of current political divisions on housing and health care.
And, with council elections looming next May, the majority making the decision in the Livingston chambers this week will be gone from office by the time the blueprint which will be the bedrock of all planning decisions until 2038 come into force.
The first draft of what is known as an Evidence Report was returned to the council earlier this year, with ministers saying it did not contain enough information. This happened to the majority of local authorities in Scotland.
Changes in housing legislation- not least the removal of local connection- have seen a surge in homeless presentations to the council. Anyone, from anywhere in the country, can present as homeless in West Lothian forcing the council to find accommodation. Before the law changed an applicant had to demonstrate familial connections to the county.
In a report to the council yesterday (Thursday 18 June 2026) Kate Hopper, the council’s Development Planning and Environment Manager, said: “Since the Evidence Report was returned to the council, the Scottish Government and the DPEA have produced a further advice note in February which sets out the approaches that councils can use in setting their Indicative Local Housing requirement (iHLR).
“These are using updated figures on existing need and/or new household projections, and policy-driven uplifts supported by housing emergency declarations and LHS targets.”
The initial plan proposed 9,850 homes. The council heard that the new proposed total housing figure for the next ten years will be 10,825 homes, built just over 1,000 a year.
Other key changes will include a broader range of home styles including more bungalows and an emphasis on the adaptability of homes to accommodate a changing and ageing population.
In health care the council will remain restricted to the provision of facilities such as extended or new buildings for GP practices or allied services.
Craig McCorriston, the head of planning, reminded councillors that the local authority, and also the Integration Joint Boards, have no influence on staffing costs or provision in primary health care. These issues belong to NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government.
Integration Joint Boards oversee the crossover services between NHS Scotland in primary health care such as vaccines as well as manage social care provision.
Ms Hopper’s report to the council published earlier this month stressed that despite the widespread problems of securing GP appointments the fault is not one wholly of restricted spaces.
Staffing is a revenue cost which has to be paid for by the NHS. GP’s remain independent of the NHS .
Ms Hopper said: “At 16 of the 20 GP practices in West Lothian there is sufficient capacity to accommodate the anticipated growth in list size from current housing allocations.
“In two practices there is clearly a requirement for additional capacity (East Calder and Almond) while a further two practices (Linlithgow, Barbauchlaw) require further investigation of service delivery and infrastructure availability to explore whether additional capacity is required.”
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter
