Tuesday June 9th 2026
Concerns have been raised over potential closure of Crawlees Road, in Midlothian during new housing construction
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
Plans for a new 926 housing development in Midlothian have been delayed after councillors raised concerns over ‘unanswered questions’.
A meeting of Midlothian Council’s planning committee this week was asked to approve a number of applications relating to the larger development on land south of Mayfield and Lingerwood, in the county.
The applications related to the first phases of the development which was granted planning permission in principle three years ago by the local authority.
However elected members raised concerns over plans to close one of the main roads as part of the construction, conflicting traffic surveys carried out in the area ahead of the work and capacity at the nearest secondary school.
Councillor Stephen Curran asked for a decision on the applications to be delayed to allow elected members to seek more answers to the concerns being raised by fellow councillors
He told the committee: “I wonder if we could defer this decision given the number of detailed questions coming forward to allow members to have a briefing and come back to make a decision better informed?”
Concerns had been raised about conflicting traffic surveys produced over the last few yeas which gave differing views on number of journeys created by the new houses in the area.
Councillor Curran also pointed out developers had said one of the roads at the centre of concerns, Crawlees Road, would have to close for three months for construction, adding: “That will probably, in my experience, mean nine to 12 months if not longer.”
Fellow committee members Councillor Stewart McKenzie also raised concerns over the varied traffic survey results presented to the committee and the plans to mix heavy vehicles and construction traffic on roads which were designated as safe routes to school and the impact on families and others living in the area.
He told the committee: “We hear a lot of numbers and desktop exercises but you are asking me to ignore the evidence of my eyes. I can stand at the end of Crawlees Road at any time of the day and see it is a traffic blackspot already.
“I don’t think the proposals as they stand are adequate.”
The plans for the new housing development which are being brought in by developers Barratt include a major upgrade to Crawlees Road which was welcomed by councillors, however they remained concerned about how the work would be carried out.
Councillor Ellen Scott, cabinet spokesperson for education, raised additional concerns that developer contributions from the estate would be going to Newbattle High School which she said was full.
She told the committee: “I don’t understand why are we negotiating for contributions to a school which is breaching when we have a school which needs to be built in Gorebridge?
“When you look at the amount of houses due to be built here in the next ten years it is an amazing amount and we need to be talking about infrastructure, it is at a critical stage for us.”
Councillors agreed to put any decision on the applications on hold until a seminar could be arranged for elected members to seeks answers to questions and invite the developer to attend.
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