The application details a change of agricultural land to form two grass sports pitches with landscaping, pathway, drainage and associated works.

Recent development in the town has led to an increase in the school-age population requiring an expansion of education facilities. A three-classroom extension opened at North Berwick High School in 2022 while a new nursery is nearing completion on land that formerly housed part of the secondary school’s sports pitches. The school has since been using pitches elsewhere in the town to meet its extra-curricular sporting requirements.

The plans for two new grass pitches were developed following extensive discussions with the school’s management team and its health and wellbeing department. The configuration also allows for the addition of a running track alongside the school’s existing grass and synthetic pitches, and learning and teaching space for general use. The expansion will provide sporting facilities in accordance with the optimum sizes recommended by national agency SportScotland for the school population now and in the future. In response to a request from the school’s Parent Council, the plans also show that the existing school campus would be able to further accommodate three hard courts that could be part of a future development if additional funding was made available.

Additional land has been secured from North Berwick Trust to extend the boundary of the school campus. A 142 linear metre (lm) section of existing hedge will be removed to reflect the new boundary while providing staff with clear sightlines across the pitches providing a safe environment for physical education. This section will be replaced with over 247lm of extensive planting along the three new boundaries including over 3000 new trees, shrubs, hedge and ivy plants together with wildflowers. The retained boundary hedge will also be underplanted with small native trees and shrubs.

The landscape has been designed to increase the use of native planting and provide a diverse year-round environment for a wide range of insects, birds and wildlife. Increasing the total area of hedgerow habitat and enhancing connectivity between the existing and new woodland strips, the planting will provide an important linear corridor between the habitats on site and the wider environment as well as providing a visual barrier between properties and pitches. It also reflects recommendations in an independent ecological report which was commissioned in relation to the proposed development.

A new path network will connect Farquharson Rest to the wider education campus providing a safe route to the schools and nursery.