Wednesday December 10th 2025
A71 beyond railway bridge at West Calder
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Stuart Sommerville
A narrow strip of land bordering the A71 through West Calder will be sold to house builders for more than £500,000.
West Lothian Council’s Executive agreed the sale to enable the building of more than 200 homes.
The housing development reopens the argument about school rolls. The village’s secondary is “bursting at the seams”, according to a local councillor.
Persimmon Homes Ltd has agreed to pay the council £503,113 for just over 2,700sqm of land running along the A71 boundary of the site.
A report to the Executive said: “[The site] is located on the north-western side of the A71 in West Calder to the north of the railway station and extends to an area of approximately 2,705sqm.”
The report added: “Persimmon Homes Limited (PHL) has an agreement with the owner of land to the north of the subjects to purchase that land, which is allocated in the local plan for residential development. PHL has submitted a planning application for the development of 214 homes on the site, but they require access over the council’s land for vehicular access to the A71.”
Property Services Manager David Baird told the meeting: “The land in question forms an access strip and its purchase will allow Persimmon to develop a land parcel beyond the council’s holding for residential properties.”
Craig Meek, Labour councillor for the Fauldhouse and Breich Valley ward, asked: “What impact will the 214 homes for this site have on the school roll at West Calder High given that we already know that it’s bursting at the seams?
Greg Welsh, the interim deputy chief executive responsible for education said: “Any change in circumstances in any catchment area would be reviewed as part of the annual process of an update of the school roll projections which are approved annually.
“At this stage obviously that would be determined on the sale of the land, any prospective house builder and the proposed lead-in time, but that would be captured as a part of our annual exercise on school roll projections.”
West Lothian Council uses the proceeds from the sale of unused land to help to fund future investment in infrastructure/capital projects, such as schools extensions/upgrades, park and open spaces, and road improvements. The sale of unused assets is therefore an important funding stream that allows the council to continue to invest in services.
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