Monday June 29th 2026
Written by Midlothian View Editor, Phil Bowen
Labour Councillors on Midlothian Council have issued a response to comments made by former Conservative and now SNP Councillor David Virgo regarding the Labour Group’s position on housing and the Local Development Plan (MLDP2).
Councillor Virgo wrote a View article last week ‘The call to halt further housebuilding in Midlothian – More Posturing Than Policy’
Labour Group deputy Leader Russell Imrie, who chairs Midlothian Council’s Planning Committee, said:
“The Administration’s statement completely misrepresents both our position and the reality facing Midlothian’s communities. Our stance is clear: Midlothian cannot take on further housing allocations until the infrastructure crisis is addressed. Schools, transport, health services and utilities are already beyond capacity.”
Labour emphasised that its position is not about opposing housing, but about ensuring that development is supported by the infrastructure required to make it sustainable.
He continued:
“The Administration claims nothing has changed since the housing requirement of a minimum 8,850 new houses for Midlothian was forced upon us by the SNP Scottish government in 2024. That is simply not the case. Since then, school projects have been delayed or redesigned, the Learning Estate Strategy remains unfunded, social care is in crisis, bus services have been cut, congestion has worsened on the A701 and A7, GP practices are under unprecedented pressure, and developer contributions are now falling short of actual costs. We are responding to the reality of 2026, not the assumptions of two years ago.”
Labour councillors said that while the paper did not allocate specific new sites, it reaffirmed thousands of additional new houses and a housing requirement that cannot be delivered safely without a credible infrastructure plan.
“A housing requirement is not a technicality. It is a commitment to further growth. Growth of thousands of new homes that require school places, GP capacity, public transport improvements, social care (already under huge pressure), and utilities. None of these currently exist at the scale required. Planning for growth without planning for infrastructure is not responsible governance.”
The Labour group say that the administration argued that not progressing the plan risks decisions being taken by Scottish Government reporters but the Labour councillors said:
“Local control is only meaningful when the Council can guarantee that services can cope. Right now, they cannot. Pretending otherwise does not strengthen local control — it weakens it.”
The Group also rejected the suggestion that concerns about overstretched services are merely “broad assertions”.
“Residents are not imagining full schools, overstretched GPs, congested roads, cuts to bus services and delayed capital projects. These are documented pressures. Dismissing them as rhetoric is out of touch with the lived experience of communities across Midlothian.”
Councillor Imrie concluded:
“The Labour Group is not saying ‘no housing’. We are saying ‘infrastructure first’. Until the Council can demonstrate that the schools, roads, public transport network, health services and utilities required to support further growth are funded and deliverable, we will continue to stand up for residents and demand a responsible, infrastructure‑led approach.”
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