Vennel Redevelopment

Introduction

The Vennel offers an opportunity to redevelop one of the most important sites in the heart of Linlithgow. Sitting between the High Street, The Cross and Linlithgow Loch, the area has long been central to the town’s daily life, commerce and identity. Before the 1960s redevelopment, traditional stone buildings lined the High Street and The Cross, with narrow lanes, riggs and gardens running down towards the Loch. The historic Kirkgate still links Linlithgow Palace and St Michael’s church with the Cross but the Watergate and Vennel which previously connected the town centre with the Loch were demolished. Also demolished in the 1960s were the buildings on the west side of the Cross such as the Golden Cross Tavern, shops, town houses and the Spanish Ambassador’s house all of which added to Linlithgow’s long civic, trading, diplomatic and royal associations.

The redevelopment of the 1960s brought housing, shops, public services and parking, but it also removed much of the earlier townscape and altered the historic relationship between The Cross, the High Street and the Loch. With parts of the Vennel now ready for renewal, the community has a rare chance to influence the design that respects Linlithgow’s past while meeting present and future needs.

Our aspiration is for a sensitive, high-quality redevelopment that strengthens the town centre, enhances the conservation area and creates a welcoming route between the High Street and Linlithgow Loch. We want new buildings and public spaces to be designed in sympathy with Linlithgow’s distinctive character, using appropriate scale, materials and form. The project should support local shops and businesses, provide community and visitor facilities, improve public toilets and parking, and include housing that responds to local needs, including affordable homes and opportunities for younger people. It is important that current residents have an opportunity to move to new homes within the site prior to the demolition of properties which are approaching their end of viable life.

Above all, the Vennel project is about stewardship: protecting the setting of a nationally important historic town while creating a useful, attractive and inclusive place for residents, businesses and visitors.

The Vennel project commenced with a proposal and consultation in 2017 and has been redefined a number of times since. The details of activity since 2017 is given below with an overview as a timeline which can be viewed by clicking on the link:

Vennel Timeline from 2017

Currently (July 2026) there is no proposal for redevelopment or indeed to do anything other than undertake a feasibility study to consider how to improve the look of the Vennel avenue.

West Lothian Council First Consultation 2017

During the summer of 2017 West Lothian Council consulted residents of Linlithgow on a plan to redevelop the Vennel. The aim of the project is to raise income for West Lothian Council through the disposal of a number of properties in and around the Vennel which will not be required by the Council, the library moving to the new Partnership Centre at County Buildings.

The West Lothian Council documents can be viewed by clicking on the following links:

Vennel Planning Guidance – the document inviting developers to make proposals

Vennel site plan – the area for redevelopment

Vennel WLC Report 0417- the report of the committee meeting

The properties are: the area between the flats on stilts and the High St; all buildings in the Vennel avenue (library, toilets, offices and shops); the Vennel car park and the green area between the buildings and the Loch.

A crop of West Lothian Council’s development area.

The green space between the Vennel buildings and the loch is included in the development area.

Buildings on both sides on the Vennel avenue are included as is the avenue itself.

The flats on stilts will remain but everything between the flats and the High Street is included as part of the redevelopment area.

Linlithgow Planning Forum Response to First Consultation

To determine what the community thought of the Vennel being redeveloped, Linlithgow Planning Forum held an exercise comprised, a survey (on-line and in the Library), table events at the Cross, interviews with residents, an exhibition and a final summary questionnaire.

Vennel Exhibition 2017 and Response to West Lothian Council

On the 29th August 2017, an Exhibition was held at the Low Port Centre which was attended by 150 people.

Vennel Exhibition Boards
The Civic Trust prepared a number of boards which showed the Vennel as it was in the past, as it is today and how it might look in the future. A snapshot of the Boards can be viewed here.

Vennel Exhibition Questionnaire
Having viewed the Boards 120 attendees completed a questionnaire. The questionnaire results can be found by clicking the following link.
Questionnaire results.

Vennel Redevelopment Comments
A huge number of comments were received online, from the door to door survey of Vennel residents and written comments received at the library and these were all recorded. They can all be viewed here.

Community Council response to West Lothian Council
All the results of the survey and exhibition plus all the comments were sent to West Lothian Council, you can view the actual response of the Community Council to West Lothian Council by clicking on the following link:
Community Council letter to West Lothian Council Sept 2017

Planning Forum Options Appraisal 2018

An email exchange with officers of West Lothian Council indicated discussions were taking place within Finance and Estates on the form of the proposed redevelopment of the Vennel. This prompted the Planning Forum to engage on their own options appraisal exercise to better inform any response to West Lothian Council. Six options were considered and with the help of a Linlithgow architectural practice and an Edinburgh quantity surveying practice (working on a pro-bono basis) a fully costed options appraisal was produced printed and widely circulated to West Lothian Council, heritage organisations and local organisations with an interest in heritage and planning. The options appraisal shows a net return to West Lothian Council of between £73,000 and £328,000 per annum (2018 prices) with all development costs accounted for. You can view the options appraisal document by clicking on the following link:

Planning Forum Options Appraisal

West Lothian Council Executive Reports 2020

2 years after the end of the first consultation came a report to West Lothian Council Executive with a revised development proposal for a much reduced part of the Vennel site. The report and revised plan can be viewed by clicking on the links below.

Report to West Lothian Council Executive

Appendix 1a Revised Vennel Planning Guidance

Appendix 1b Revised Site Plan

Appendix 2 Summary of 2017 consultation

West Lothian Council Second Consultation 2021

Following the 2020 Executive reports the Community Council submitted a formal "participation request" under part 3 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland ) Act 2015. The Council Executive accept an update report from officers which proposes a plan moving forward including engagement with the Community Council and the seeking of expressions of interest from appropriate development partners. A series of four meetings between representatives of the Planning Forum and officers of West Lothian Council move the planning for the project forward. West Lothian Council approve a budget of £115,000 for project management services to expedite the feasibility and tendering stage. Later it is reported that £8000 of the £115,000 had been spent on advertising/marketing fees to allow notes of interest to be established. After the fourth meeting the officer responsible for the organisation of the consultation left the employment of the council. The reports to the Executive and the final minutes of the consultation meetings can be viewed by clicking on the links below:

Vennel update report 2021

Appendix to update report

Final meeting minute

West Lothian Council Third Consultation 2024 and Final Development Review Report

A report to the Council Executive of 20th February 2024 stated that a recently commissioned external valuation study of the Vennel concluded that the income currently received by West Lothian Council exceeds the amount likely to be tendered by a developer for the site. In this case the report concluded that the transformative redevelopment sought for The Vennel may not be achievable. However, in order to determine this is a formal marketing exercise will be undertaken and the results of this will be reported back to Council Executive. Notwithstanding this report officers representing Finance and Property services undertook two consultations with representatives of the Community Council, Civic Trust, Community Development Trust and the Young Peoples' project. The minutes of the final meeting (the meeting in minute 5 did not take place) can be viewed below. The last West Lothian Council executive meeting took place on 10th December and reported that two development proposals had been received from developers, one of which was costed and which was less than the income currently received as predicted at the beginning of the year. It was decided to undertake a further feasibility study on the extent to which the aesthetic of the Vennel area could be improved. The two reports can be viewed below.