Wemyss and March Estates have secured a prestigious property award for its work on the delivery of Longniddry South in East Lothian.

The Estate won the Rural Property Award, sponsored by Bidwells, at the recent Helping it Happen Awards 2025, organised by Scottish Land and Estates and held in Edinburgh. The awards recognise “countryside innovators”.

Longniddry South (also known as “Longniddry Village”) is distinguished by its high-quality design, which draws from the traditional towns and villages of East Lothian, while providing a mix of house types and tenures to cater to a diverse range of household sizes and means.

The site itself is highly sustainable and benefits from close proximity to existing shops and services, with Longniddry train station on its doorstep.

The Estate, working with Socially Conscious Capital and Taylor Architecture and Urbanism, devised an overall masterplan which was recognised by the judging panel as providing high-quality design, integrating green spaces, traditional aesthetics, habitat features, and car-free streets, working closely with architects, developers, and the community to create a sustainable, connected village.

Generous provision is made for nature with a variety of new greenspaces such as a wildflower meadow, an orchard and a restored winding burn, as well as built-in habitat boxes. Hedgerows and mature trees have been preserved within the masterplan.

Phase 1 of the development, which comprises 179 homes (of a total 470) was completed in 2024 and is fully occupied. This has already boosted the intake at the village’s primary school, whilst also providing 39 dementia-friendly cottage flats for over-65s within a short walk of the village centre.

A quarter of homes are affordable, which are indistinguishable from the private homes in terms of quality. New cottage flats and single-storey properties enable down-sizing from larger houses in the existing village.

Longniddry South has brought new life to the village, supporting local shops and services, whilst providing new business space and promoting local living.

Several million pounds of planning contributions have enabled new crossings and footpaths along the village’s Main Street, as well as improvements around the train station, increasing its capacity, and the means for the school to expand as necessary.

The project also stands out for its sensitive and environmentally friendly conversion of the historic Longniddry Steading, helping the community thrive by breathing life into a once-redundant asset, with a wide range of businesses opening throughout 2025.

Construction is also supporting traditional skills such as harling and stone masonry.

Longniddry South has already received several prestigious awards, including ‘Development of the Year’ at the Herald Property Awards 2023, as well as The King’s Foundation’s Landowner Legacy Award for ‘guiding and delivering the Conservation Area of tomorrow’, which has brought recognition to Longniddry as a thriving local community.

Martin Andrews, Factor of Wemyss and March Estates, said: “We are incredibly honoured to have received this prestigious award from Scottish Land and Estates, which celebrates our endeavours to ensure that what we develop makes an enduring and valued contribution within our home county of East Lothian.

Longniddry South is a high-quality, highly sustainable development, bringing new life to the village, which is supporting local shops and services, whilst providing new business space and promoting local living.”

He added: “Our aim has been to envision a place that not only looks great but that also has sustainability and quality of life at its heart, and we are delighted to have this recognised through the award.”