Bilston, Midlothian
Encyclopedia
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, just south of Loanhead
Loanhead
Loanhead is a small town in Midlothian, Scotland, to the south of Edinburgh, and close to Roslin, Bonnyrigg and Dalkeith. The town was built on coal and shale mining, and the paper industry.-History:...
on the A701
A701 road
-Route:The A701 leaves Dumfries and travels north to meet the A74 at Beattock. It thens joins the A74 for a short spell before branching off to the north-east towards Moffat and ultimately Edinburgh....
. It is next to Bilston Glen industrial estate.
Bilston Burn is a tributary of the River North Esk
River Esk, Lothian
The River Esk is a river which flows through Midlothian and East Lothian, Scotland.It initially runs as two separate rivers, the North Esk and the South Esk....
. It flows east from the village, and is classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
(SSSI).
A proposed bypass
Bypass (road)
A bypass is a road or highway that avoids or "bypasses" a built-up area, town, or village, to let through traffic flow without interference from local traffic, to reduce congestion in the built-up area, and to improve road safety....
, taking the A701 east of the village, was put forward by Midlothian Council in 2000, and is included in the development plan
Development Plan
A development plan is an aspect of town and country planning in the United Kingdom comprising a set of documents that set out the local authority's policies and proposals for the development and use of land in their area...
.. One of the proposed routes of the by-pass is through the SSSI woodland in Bilston Glen, although this option may prove expensive as a result of subsidence issues caused by extensive mine workings in the area. Protesters objecting to the scheme continue to occupy the SSSI woodlands, though no construction work has begun. This occupation has seen extensive building of tree-houses and has significantly altered the woodland.