Detailed plans for the first 412 properties in a landmark residential redevelopment of the site of a former psychiatric hospital in West Lothian have been granted planning permission.
The Bangour Village Estate masterplan provides for up to 998 new homes, including the conversion of listed Victorian buildings into new, energy-efficient homes, as well as a new primary school, and a community retail hub. Site owner and masterplanner Ambassador Group, which is based in Glasgow and is owned by David Gaffney, describes the project as “one of the UK's most iconic redevelopment projects, all set in 215 acres of spectacular mature woodland”.
The site includes 15 listed buildings, with some dating back to the early 1900s.
Detailed planning permission for the first 412 properties was granted by West Lothian Council.
READ MORE: Ian McConnell: Scotland's quoted company exodus and UK's hard Brexit misery
Gordon Coster, managing director of Ambassador Group's developments division, said: "We are so pleased about reaching this next milestone in realising our vision for Bangour Village Estate. We are committed to honouring Bangour's legacy and working with the local community and stakeholders to create a sustainable future for this incredible location.
READ MORE: Ian McConnell: Humza Yousaf – so far, so good, so what?
"We pride ourselves on being a good neighbour within the communities we build in.”
He noted Ambassador Group had “established a community liaison group, which will work to keep open channels of communication between Ambassador, Bangour Village Estate residents and the wider community”.
READ MORE: Two famous Highland hotels reopen
Planning permission in principle has already been granted for the overall Bangour Village Estate masterplan, and initial infrastructure and groundworks have begun.
Ambassador Group said it would now “continue to work through the detailed plans for each phase of the masterplan, with the first homes due to be released for sale in early summer 2023”.
🔴 Save on a full year of digital access with our lowest EVER offer.
Subscribe for the whole year to The Herald for only £24 for unlimited website access or £30 for our digital pack.
This is only available for a limited time so don't miss out.
West Lothian Council and Ambassador Group last year reached agreement on community benefits as part of the conditions of the approved planning permission in principle for Bangour Village Estate.
The agreement ensures the retention and refurbishment of 11 of the existing listed buildings, including a grade A-listed church which will be refurbished and transferred to Historic Churches Scotland.
Opened as a psychiatric hospital in 1906, the site was requisitioned by the War Office during the First and Second World Wars. It became a general hospital serving West Lothian from 1948, which closed in 2004. The site has been unused since then.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel