Our volunteers monitor local planning applications, respond to development proposals, and promote high-quality design that respects the town’s heritage. We also campaign for a balanced approach to short-term lets to help sustain our year-round community.
Responding to planning applications
Our planning and built heritage volunteers monitor all of the local planning applications each week. We have a particular focus on the Conservation Area, which is the historic heart of the town, but we keep an eye on all proposals that might affect North Berwick.
Where necessary, we submit comments on applications and related issues to East Lothian Council, and we let our members know and raise awareness locally of any especially significant or concerning development proposals.
We also contribute to and comment on other planning matters, issues and policies, such as North Berwick’s Local Place Plan, the local authority’s Local Development Plan and the Parking Management Review.
We regularly contact officials in East Lothian Council and North Berwick Coastal Ward's councillors on a wide variety of subjects, including planning, landscape and countryside, roads, transport and architecture.
Our overarching aim is to contribute to the ongoing maintenance and enhancement of North Berwick’s built environment by preserving the best of the past, encouraging the sensitive management of change, and promoting high quality architecture and design for new developments in our beautiful town.
Short-term lets
The impact of an over-abundance of short-term lets and second homes in North Berwick was first raised by members at our AGM in 2022. We carried out a survey and found that up to 50% of the properties in the centre of North Berwick are holiday homes. We shared our report with East Lothian Council, and hosted a walkabout with senior officials to meet with some residents affected by living in close proximity to short-term lets.
The biggest impact is on the community, especially given the serious lack of affordable housing in the town, either for long-term rent or to buy. Some town centre streets have very few occupants during the winter months and some tenements are almost entirely short-term lets. Meanwhile, some local people, especially young people, as well as key workers (in hospitality and care, for example) often struggle to find somewhere to live.
There is a perception, shared by East Lothian Council, that short-term lets are essential for the economy of the town, but this is not supported by the evidence. In 2024, NB Heritage commissioned 'Economic Impact of Residential and Short-Term Let Properties in North Berwick' by MKA Economics (funded by North Berwick Trust and NBCC) to ascertain the economic benefits of short-term lets versus permanent residents. This work demonstrated that the economic benefits are significantly greater for properties which are occupied all year round.
NB Heritage is not against short-term lets or holiday homes. Indeed, from its earliest days, North Berwick has always welcomed visitors and been a favoured holiday destination – but we believe there needs to be a better balance between the needs of the local community and providing tourist accommodation.
Since the introduction of a new planning and licensing regime for holiday lets by the Scottish Government in 2023, NB Heritage has challenged numerous planning applications to commence or continue using properties as short-term holiday lets, not always successfully. We continue to monitor the situation and we remain concerned about the inconsistency of decisions and the growing intrusion of short-term lets and second homes into recent housing developments.