Thursday November 12th 2026
Linlithgow Burgh Halls, with councillors discussing ways to protect and enhance the town's historic conservation areas.
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Stuart Sommerville
Linlithgow may be an architectural jewel in West Lothian but it suffers from a “weak sense of arrival.”
So claimed a report on protecting and enhancing conservation areas presented to the West Lothian Council’s Executive this week.
The hefty document was welcomed by local councillors but it also baffled them, prompting questions on skewputts and burgage plots
The first is a corner gable stone often featuring a carved figure; the second is long narrow plot of land fronted by a shop.
A reader may well know that the ancient burgh is the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots, but few will be up to speed with the fact that the high street was the first in Scotland to have a petrol pump, in 1919.
Linlithgow’s Lib Dem councillor Sally Pattle started with questions on the 500-plus page report compiled into the ten conservation areas in West Lothian.
“What do you mean by a weak sense of arrival. Are there plans to change that, with a big flashing sign?” she asked officers, bringing a touch of levity to the close of a meeting which had lasted more than two hours.
Head of Planning Craig McCorriston said it referred to the road from the motorway into the town. “There’s nothing that says you are coming into the town”.
Councillor Pattle joked “ We could have a big arch, I’ll man the barrier.”
Labour’s Tom Conn suggested following Trump-style building plans might upset local planning laws but raised a serious point shopkeepers ignoring conservation area rules to have garish and lurid installations on store fronts, either through ignorance or choice.
Mr McCorriston said that the council could enforce the rules around conservation areas. He added: “We have to be prepared to take action. It will not be a surprise to members that we do need greater enforcement to properly address the issues.”
Councillor Conn suggested installing cast iron signs proclaiming conservation, such as those on display in Stockbridge in Edinburgh. These would inform visitors and remind shopkeepers of their surroundings.
Taking up the message about a sense of arrival the SNP’s Pauline Orr told the meeting that a sign once welcoming visitors to the Royal Burgh of Linlithgow was now missing from the entrance to the town at Highfield.
“Can we have that back please, and following on councillor Conn’s point we could add the words conservation area?”
Councillor Orr added her praise for the report: “Very well done to all staff that have been involved. There were bits in there I had forgotten about and things I wasn’t aware of.”
Depute SNP leader Maria MacAulay agreed, praising report for revealing “the history on our doorstep. It’s incredible”.
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