Wednesday September 9th 2026
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
An English self storage firm is bidding to open its first Scottish site behind a former bakery in East Lothian.
Hungerford-based Jock Storage Ltd wants to operate 28 storage containers on land behind The Old Bakery building at Mid Road Industrial Estate, in Prestonpans.
An application by site owners the Gordon Single Partnership, says demand for single self storage units has grown across the UK in the last decade and the new business will operate as Prestonpans Storage.
It adds that a close relationship between the applicants and the company will mean staff from the partnership will be involved in operating the new facility.
It says: “The application site comprises the Old Bakery’s former servicing yard adjacent to the rear, eastern end of the building. It has a total site area of 0.21 acres and benefits from its own gated vehicular entrance direct from the estate road.
“The part of the site inside the entry gate which extends along the building’s rear elevation is 10 metres wide and has a hardstanding surface. There is a small brick enclosure against the Old Bakery’s rear wall which contains an electricity sub-station providing power to the premises.
“The site is otherwise free of built structures following the recent removal of three redundant flour silos associated with the former bakery use which had become unsafe.”
A planning statement lodged with the council revealed that initial proposals had included a second plot of land at the front of The Old Bakery building however an officer had advised this was unlikely to be approved.
It says: “He indicated that despite both areas being within the industrial estate and allocated as employment land, it was unlikely an application would be
supported for both plots as their development would constitute unacceptable loss of open space.
“The companies’ proprietors were surprised and disappointed that a proposal for industrial development on land allocated for that purpose was regarded as unacceptable in principal.
“However it was noted that the over-riding concern regarding the open space classification related predominantly to Plot 1, on grounds it ‘occupies a prominent position close to the main entrance into the Industrial Estate and is
readily visible from the internal access road that serves it.”
The plans are available to view on the council’s planning portal.
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