Alba Developments has submitted a planning application to West Lothian Council to allow access to its site at Westfield from the B8047.

The 80-acre development site was acquired by Alba in 2019 and will be transformed into more than 550 family houses.

With ground survey works beginning shortly, Alba hopes the latest application facilitating a simple redesign of the site will see increase the likelihood that construction will begin in Autumn 2020.

The development site, which once contained the Westfield Paper Mill, aims to revitalise the village through an investment of around £100 million over the next 10 years.

The site was initially given planning permission in 2010 but now finally looks to be realised following the takeover of the site by Alba Developments last year. A series of separate applications for individual phases of the development will be submitted in the next few months.

The proposals for the site will involve 2, 3 and 4 bedroom homes as well as elements of open space provision, including a green corridor to expand into smaller play areas throughout the site.

The large-scale development could regenerate the local economy by attracting new public transport links and retail space. As part of the agreement between Alba Developments and West Lothian Council, there is also a commitment to increase the capacity of Westfield Primary School and its facilities to meet the expected increase in demand.

Shane Ticklepenny, managing director, from Alba Developments, said: “We are excited to see progress at our Westfield development having submitted the latest planning application to the council just before Christmas. By amending the road access to the development, we hope to move up our schedule and begin construction this year. We will be keeping the local community fully informed of our proposals as each of the planning applications come forward in the next few months.

“We are very proud of our plans at Westfield and hope it will inject new life into this lovely village. Our investment will bring an economic boost and new amenities, attracting families to the area and leading to upgrades to the local school and bus links to improve the connectivity with neighbouring towns.”