THE retail park being built on the outskirts of Haddington should be treated as “an opportunity not a threat” to the town centre, the Provost of East Lothian has said. Haddington Retail Park, on the western edge of the town, is due to open later this year and will include The Food Warehouse, Home Bargains, Costa Coffee and a petrol station. Aldi will also swap its town centre site off Whittingehame Drive for a new, larger store in the retail park, with the occupier of a fifth unit yet to be revealed. The retail park will have nearly 300 free-of-charge parking spaces and is also within walking distance of hundreds of new homes being built at nearby Gateside and Letham Mains.
COMMUNITY councillors have backed plans for a care home and children’s nursery on the edge of Haddington. Proposals have been revealed for a three-storey, 60-bed care home on land to the west of Haddington’s Gateside Road. The site would also include a nursery for up to 60 children up to the age of five. Community councillors discussed the proposals from Mansfield Care at their meeting. Therese Laing, the group’s planning liaison officer, said: “A 60-bed care home and a 60-space nursery will probably be great for Haddington.” Paul Darling, also a planning liaison officer with the community council, felt that there were benefits to the nursery and care home being close to one another.
AN APPROACH could be made to one of the authors behind a set of internationally successful books to create a child-friendly version of Haddington’s history. The hugely successful Horrible Histories books, published by Scholastic, were translated into more than 30 different languages and sold more than 25 million copies across the world. The series of books are specially written and illustrated for children. Therese Laing, a former headteacher at Humbie Primary School, raised the idea of a Haddington version during a meeting of the town’s community council earlier this month. She had previously contacted Terry Deary, primary author of the Horrible Histories books, about the idea.
CONTROVERSIAL exercise stations beside a picturesque riverside walkway are to be removed. Discussions took place surrounding the future of the green metal bars beside the River Tyne in Haddington at the end of last year. Now, after consultation with Haddington’s community council, East Lothian Council has agreed to remove the exercise stations – with the possibility of installing some in Neilson Park instead. A spokeswoman for the local authority said: “The Tyne walkway exercise stations were erected in early 2016, following discussions with local stakeholders, including Haddington and District Community Council and Friends of the River Tyne group, to provide opportunities for people to improve their physical activity levels, with support from the Ageing Well initiative and local health professionals.