Former West Lothian war memorial site 'should never have been sold for houses'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An angry councillor has said a plot of land on a former war memorial site should "never have been sold" to developers, after plans to build around 50 houses were rejected.Local Labour councillor Harry Cartmill had led a robust rejection of developing land he called "a gift" to the people of Bathgate.The land was sold by the council to developers in 2002 as a site for residential development - something that is now being challenged by local residents.The steeply sloping site sits high above the town on the edge of the Bathgate Hills.

It is bounded by the Veterans Cottages, homes built for soldiers returning from the First World War.Councillor Cartmill said that many of the large beech trees on the site had been planted at that time the memorial was erected and were treated by many families as memorials to the fallen.

Many veterans had their ashes scattered around the site, he added.There were 67 objections to the proposal mostly from neighbours on Napier Avenue and Academy Place who feared more than 50 new houses would be built on the site.Councillor Cartmill said: "I blame the planners in West Lothian for not listening to local people.

How many more spaces are we going to build on? This space is simply not suitable for building."And after the meeting he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service local residents would "breathe a sigh of relief" that the plans had been turned down, adding: "It was hard for me not to get emotional whilst expressing my objections to committee as this Common Good land should never have been sold off by Council."The land was part of the WW1 Veterans Cottages and War Memorial development of 1924 which was eventually 'handed over' to Council for the sole purpose of being used for the benefit of