News
Construction works start on larger nurseries for two schools
Construction work has started at two of our primary schools to create larger nurseries that can offer more early learning and childcare places.
Aberlady Primary School
A year-long extension project at Aberlady Primary School will create a nursery to primary 2 hub and a new nursery garden. Internal alterations will also see the school have a full production kitchen allowing hot meals to be prepared on site rather than transported from Gullane Primary as currently happens.
In advance of works beginning, the school’s nursery has moved into a temporary unit within the grounds, previously home to primary 7. Early years capacity will double in August from 20 to 40 spaces across two temporary units. The children will move into the extension.
Following a competitive tender process, Henry Brothers was awarded a contract worth over £3.96m. A strip of the neighbouring pitches will be fenced off for the duration of the project for a ‘haul road’ and contractors compound before begin fully restored once construction is complete.
Longniddry Primary School
Meanwhile Wallyford-based RP Slight and Sons will carry out alterations at Longniddry Primary School to expand the nursery for this August.
A refurbishment of existing rooms within the school will create a larger centre for early learning and childcare increasing capacity from 30 spaces to 64. The first phase of works to remove partition walls and refurbish toilet facilities has already taken place and additional upgrades to kitchen areas, walls, flooring and the external garden play space will also be carried out.
Nursery children have been temporarily moved to a different area at the opposite end of the school building while works are completed and will return to their new space in August.
S1: here they come!
Almost 200 primary seven pupils from the Fa’side area attended a two-day event at Meadowmill to have fun and make new friends ahead of their move to Ross High School in August.
Our Fa’side Connected Communities team held the first transitions event in 2022 as a way to help children make the move to secondary school post-pandemic. Successful feedback from everyone led to it becoming an annual fixture.
Activity and resilience
All young people were sorted into mixed groups at the beginning of the day so they could meet their peers from other schools before enjoying seven different sessions focused on activity and resilience. Our Arts Service held a dance class while East Lothian Orienteering ran an introduction to the sport. Active Schools Future Leaders, a group of senior pupil volunteers, led basketball and football while Ross High and our libraries teams worked together to create a team building session.
Ross High’s Mental Health Youth Worker Gemma Burns focused on resilience while Recharge was also on hand.
The event was free of charge with ASDA Tranent donating water and fruit to keep everyone energised and Enjoyleisure allowing the use of Meadowmill.
Feedback on the day was positive with young people reporting reduced anxiety about the move to high school and having made new friends with their soon to be school mates prior to the holidays.
'Real collaborative working'
Our Connected Communities Team Manager Andy Cheshire said: “The transitions event is now a mainstay of our team’s annual calendar. It demonstrates real collaborative working and has clear benefits helping young people feel more confident about their move from primary to secondary school.
"A huge thank you to all partners, young people, schools and of course our wee team in Fa’side that pull all this together annually. It was really uplifting to see some of the young people who benefitted from this event four years ago make a return to deliver the basketball and football sessions as ‘future leaders’ with the Active Schools team and hopefully this can continue year on year as well.”
Wishing all our P7s a successful start to S1.
Consultation launched on a draft Visitor Levy for East Lothian
The consultation on a draft Visitor Levy Scheme for East Lothian is now underway, after councillors unanimously gave the go ahead at the Council meeting on Tuesday 23 June.
The draft scheme has been prepared following a process of evidence gathering, stakeholder engagement and financial analysis. A 12-week statutory consultation has now been launched, including an online survey open to everyone alongside direct engagement with accommodation providers, businesses, community representatives and others with an interest in East Lothian's visitor economy.
The consultation invites views on all aspects of the Draft Visitor Levy Scheme, including its purpose and objectives, levy design, exemptions, governance arrangements and the proposed use of net proceeds. Alongside the consultation, we will continue to refine our evidence base, including further economic modelling and appraisal, before a final report is presented to Council later this year.
A visitor levy is a charge applied to overnight stays in paid accommodation, paid by visitors and collected by accommodation providers, with proceeds ring fenced for tourism related purposes.
The draft East Lothian levy currently proposes a five per cent charge on top of accommodation costs, which would be collected by accommodation providers via a nationally managed digital portal. This means that a one-night stay costing £100 would incur a Visitor Levy of £5 or a one-night stay costing £60 would incur a Visitor Levy of £3. The levy would apply to the accommodation charge only and would not apply to charges for meals, drinks, parking or other services.
The charge would apply to hotels, guest houses, B&Bs, self-catering accommodation (including short term lets), hostels and paid camping and caravanning accommodation located within East Lothian. The current proposal is that accommodation providers would retain two per cent of the levy collected to contribute towards their administration costs. It is estimated that the scheme would generate approximately £1.2 million per year to be spent on facilities mainly used by visitors.
National legislation requires a minimum implementation period of 18 months before a scheme could be introduced, meaning any levy would not commence before spring 2028, if approved by Council at a meeting later this year.
The survey is now open on the East Lothian Consultation Hub with direct engagement work with stakeholders to follow.
Athelstaneford community spearheads playpark renewal
Members of the community recently gathered to celebrate the renewal of a children’s playpark in Athelstaneford.
The play area in the village park, which is owned and managed by the council, has been transformed by the installation of a range of challenging, exciting, and inclusive new play equipment for different ages and abilities.
Councillor Colin McGinn joined youngsters from the local nursery and Athelstaneford Primary School to mark the successful completion of the work.
Representatives from the Athelstaneford Community Group, who led the project, and colleagues in Amenity Services, who worked in partnership with the group’s volunteers, also attended the event.
The playpark renewal - which was spearheaded by the local community, received £39,825 in funding from the FCC Communities Foundation and £37,025 from our Community Intervention Fund.
In addition, our Roads Services team recently installed a new raised table crossing and access gate into the park at the Mansefield junction in response to concerns about vehicle speeds and a new path along a field edge which improved access while creating a traffic-free route for school pupils walking to the park for PE lessons. The £60,000 cost of these elements was covered by Transport Scotland via the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund.
The Athelstaneford Community Group was formed to bring forward initiatives in the village such as the regeneration of the park. Its volunteers developed a community-led masterplan for the park, identified the renewal of the children’s play area as a priority and secured funding for the delivery of the new playpark.
The new equipment includes a climbing frame with a rope bridge and slides, a cableway (flying fox), a wheelchair accessible roundabout, a ‘nest’ swing, and a bespoke Athelstaneford ‘village shop’ play panel.
Along with the funding from the FCC Communities Foundation and the council, the project could not have proceeded without contributions from Haddington and District Community Council, Caz’s Kiddies in the Country Nursery, and generous donations from members of the community.
Plague document from our archives on display in St Andrews this summer
A 16th-century Haddington minute book from our archives is on display in St Andrews this summer. The volume is part of War, Destruction and Reform: The Early Years of Mary, Queen of Scots, an exhibition at the Wardlaw Museum.
In December 1542, Mary became Queen of Scots when she was just six days old. For the next eight years, Scotland was affected by violent warfare with England over her future marriage. The exhibition is not just about Mary, but also the impact of the wars on ordinary people.
East Lothian was at the centre of the conflict. In 1547, the Scottish army was defeated at the Battle of Pinkie, the last pitched battle between Scotland and England. After the defeat, the English army laid siege to Haddington. The siege lasted until 1549 and left the town devastated. Buildings were destroyed or badly damaged, and townspeople suffered from famine and disease.
The minute book on display records measures taken to try to stop the spread of plague. These included restricting movement, keeping strangers out and requiring residents to stay at home. There was also a ban on keeping pigs. As pigs scavenged in the streets and consumed waste, people believed they spread the plague.
Although these measures were well intentioned, they were ineffective against a disease spread by fleas living on rats. The council appointed officers to go around every morning and ask, “Who is seik and who is deid?” Those who were ill were banished to the moor at Gladsmuir. Bakers and brewers were instructed to make bread and ale for the “poor wretches” on the moor, but it is unlikely that many survived.
The exhibition is at the Wardlaw Museum until Sunday 20 September. If you would like to find out more about records held in our archives at the John Gray Centre, email history@eastlothian.gov.uk. The Archives Team would be delighted to show you around or arrange a treasures tour for your team.
Love East Lothian summer socials campaign
Look out for a summer social media campaign encouraging East Lothian residents and visitors to Eat, Stay, Play and Shop Local in East Lothian during July and August.
We know it'll be a busy time of year with the school holidays now underway and events in East Lothian including the Genesis Scottish Open and Fringe by the Sea always attracting huge crowds.
We want to help support our high streets and local businesses both during these busier times and beyond by encouraging people to explore more of what's on offer right here in East Lothian rather than going further afield. It's a great time to visit an old favourite place and re-visit that great local business you've maybe not been to for a while - and discover some new ones along the way!
Along with Visit East Lothian, our Destination Marketing & Management Organisation (DMMO), which is run by our Economic Development team, we will be putting out targeted posts on Visit East Lothian and East Lothian Council social media channels, mainly Facebook and Instagram, but look out on LinkedIn and X as well - using Love Local and Love East Lothian branding and the hashtags #LoveEastLothian #LoveLocal #ShopLocal
Alongside the social campaign, Visit East Lothian has teamed up with Bauer Media on their Schools Out for Summer campaign across Bauer Radio (Tay, Forth and Clyde). Listen out for information on East Lothian and watch out for it on their digital channels too. There's even a chance to win a Visit East Lothian prize bundle including a family pass for Newhailes House, including two children’s passes for Weehailes, a £100 voucher for Foxlake Adventures and a £50 voucher for Archerfield Walled Garden.
Genesis Scottish Open 2026 traffic and travel
The Genesis Scottish Open golf tournament returns to the Renaissance Club, near Dirleton, for the eighth consecutive year, with up to 85,000 visitors expected to flock here from Wednesday 8 to Sunday 12 July.
Each year, we work with event organisers DP World Tour and Police Scotland on a Transport Management Plan to help minimise the impact on residents and businesses and encourage as many visitors to the golf as possible to use public transport options. Community councils and local residents have also been kept informed.
The main change to last year is a new, non-golf traffic suggested alternative route westbound from North Berwick off the A198 at Station Road and eastbound from Gullane off the A198 at Fentoun Gait. We would urge anybody not coming to park at Muirfield Fields to use this diversion to allow the A198 to remain for just golf traffic.
As in previous years, there will be temporary changes to the parking, waiting, loading and unloading restrictions in Aberlady, Longniddry and Dirleton, with these restrictions being in place from 6am on Wednesday 8 July until 11pm on Sunday 12 July. A temporary 30mph speed limit will also be in place along a section of the A198 close to the entrance to Archerfield Estate.
Ticket holders will be advised to use service buses between North Berwick and Edinburgh as well as the Edinburgh to Longniddry train service. A free courtesy bus service will operate between Longniddry railway station and the event public car park. For local visitors to the event, it may be useful to note that the Prentice 122 bus service now runs between Haddington and North Berwick via Gullane, Monday to Saturday.
Those driving to the event will be directed from the A1 at Haddington before heading eastbound at the Ballencrieff Roundabout, along the A1377 via Drem. This means the majority of traffic will be ushered away from the A198 coast road which will remain open at all times, but delays and congestion may be experienced during the event, particularly in the expected peak travel periods.
The event public car park is free and is immediately to the east of Gullane, at ‘Muirfield fields’ on the north side of the A198.
Traffic restrictions include:
- there will be no parking, loading or unloading on the B1377 at Longniddry (past the train station) and part of Main Road (B1345) and Manse Road in Dirleton
- 20mph speed limits will be in place on the B1377 at Longniddry and 30mph limits on part of the A198 at Dirleton
- parking will be suspended on the north side of the High Street (A198) in Aberlady
Businesses on the estate, including Archerfield Walled Garden, will be open and accessible as well as maintained access to residential properties.
Full details of the restrictions are on the Tell Me Scotland website.
Full event details are on the DP World Tour website.