Concerns raised over closed-doors meeting on future of Cockenzie Power Station

Concern over a lack of progress in the transformation of the site, which was bought by East Lothian Council more than two and a half years ago, has led to calls for greater transparency over negotiations.

An update on interest in the site was presented to a virtual meeting of East Lothian Council this week but the public were refused access as it was heard in private.

The local authority spent £150,000 commissioning a masterplan for the site through community consultations in 2016, publishing their ‘vision document’ a year later.

Three years on, the council has resisted local calls to adopt the masterplan and talks over an alternative proposal for a cruise terminal, supported by some sections of the community, appear to have stalled.

To date, Inch Cape Offshore Limited (ICOL) is the only firm to be granted planning permission on the site after the Scottish Government called in its application to put a sub station on the former power station site to bring energy onland from an offshore windfarm.

Two other projects have gone public with their desire to move onto the site – one by Composium Group Ltd would see a data centre powered by wave energy at the site; another by Seagreen also looks to bring energy from an offshore windfarm project online.

Prestonpans Community Council last week raised concerns that the discussions over the future of the site were being held behind closed doors after their call for a steering group to be established to pursue their preferred option of a cruise terminal was rejected.They criticised the council’s ‘inertia’ when it comes to the site.

Member, Calum Miller said: “The Cockenzie Power Station site is an asset for the whole of the county which is currently being wasted through poor planning, leadership and negotiation.

“East Lothian councillors should be taking every opportunity to rectify this situation, rather than pandering to official desire for back-room deals. The local communities deserve full disclosure of these deals and the full council should be signing them off our behalf. Anything less is dereliction of duty.

“It’s our land and our money at stake and the public have a right to review how it is being managed.

“Closed door decision-making has already cost us dear and it is looking like the site will be sold off piecemeal to the highest bidder; more masterscam than masterplan.”

It is understood councillors were told that officers were reluctant to make any decisions over the site’s future until the Scottish covernment produces its revised National Policy Framework.

A council spokesperson said the Cockenzie report was private because it contained “commercially sensitive information”.

They added: “However, we can confirm it relates to current planning applications which are in the public domain from Redrock and Seagreen together with other expressions of interest – all proposed developments with an energy-generation or storage purpose.

“The information has no impact on any future planning decisions. The report also details current, temporary use of the site for Covid-19 testing and the potential future temporary uses for a mass vaccination site and a certification site in the event of a no-deal Brexit.”

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