Statement on Lowood: no mention of financial arrangements

by EWAN LAMB

A statement issued today by Scottish Borders Council - eight days after it agreed to pay a local landowner £9.6 million for his 109-acre country estate - makes no mention of how the deal has been funded or what the financial implications will be for council taxpayers.

The local authority, in an upbeat press release more than 12 hours after Not Just Sheep & Rugby broke the story, confirmed the purchase of the Lowood Estate next door to Tweedbank village, and claimed hundreds of jobs would be created once the land is handed on to house builders and other developers.

Lowood is now in the ownership of a newly formed business, Lowood & Tweedbank Ltd., 100 per cent owned by SBC. But details of the transaction, including where the cash has come from to fund the deal is being kept a closely guarded secret at this stage. Presumably the local authority has borrowed the money.

It is understood councillors who sanctioned the multi-million pound deal [even though SBC claims to be extremely strapped for cash] along with those who may have expressed concerns and doubts at confidential meetings have been warned not to discuss the Lowood purchase in public.

According to the press release: "Potentially over 670 jobs will be created with the development of five sites in Tweedbank, including Lowood Estate, which has been purchased by Scottish Borders Council."

A report to full council on Thursday 20 December outlines a series of development plans for four sites on the Borders Innovation Park which could create 160 new jobs as well as another estimated 160 during construction.

The council statement continued: "The multi-use development of parts of Lowood Estate, acquired for £9.6million, could create an estimated 179 new jobs as well as 173 construction jobs.

Councillor Mark Rowley, Scottish Borders Council’s Executive Member for Business and Economic Development, said: “There are a series of opportunities for significant development on some key sites in Tweedbank, with many of those well progressed. This will be carried out and funded by the Council, a range of partners including Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government, and the private sector.

“We look forward to all these coming to fruition and seeing very substantial employment opportunities, both in the construction phase and longer term, which is extremely exciting for the whole of the Scottish Borders due to the wider economic benefits this would provide.

“In addition, by acquiring Lowood Estate the Council now controls a vital site which has significant development potential for both the public and private sector, associated employment benefits and the scope for the delivery of a large number of homes.

“The development potential of these sites has been hugely boosted by the presence of the Borders Railway. By maximising the economic impact of the railway in its current form we strengthen the case for its potential future extension to Hawick and beyond.”

A year ago SBC awarded a £400,000 contract to Edinburgh-based Turner & Townsend to prepare a Tweedbank Masterplan incorporating the land at Lowood. A range of consultants have been involved in the process which has also seen parts of the area become a so-called Simplified Planning Zone (SPZ) to speed up development without the need for planning permission.

In their statement the council explain: "The Tweedbank Masterplan identifies the potential for new residential and business space development on Lowood Estate, as part of a wider Tweedbank expansion proposal, which would seek to attract existing and new residents and businesses moving into the area, including those who would wish to use the nearby Borders Railway as a key transport mode.

"The prospectus also identifies opportunities to expand Tweedbank village and reposition the current industrial estate as a new Borders Innovation Park.

"The Tweedbank Masterplan was developed as part of the Borders Railway Blueprint Programme, and was carried out at the same time as a similar piece of work on Galashiels.  Both these masterplans present a variety of proposals to encourage people to live, learn, visit and work in the area, as well as attract inward investment through public and private investment and partnership working."