The latest proposals for a multi-million pound retail park on industrial land at Tweedbank in the Central Borders should not be approved by the planning authority, according to a senior official who has strongly criticised the scheme for the second time in three months.
Karen Ruthven, of the Forward Planning Department at Scottish Borders Council attacked the original plans from an Edinburgh developer which included a budget hotel, large retail premises and other amenities between Galashiels and Melrose. Since her withering attack in April the planned shopping facility has been removed from the application.
But in a new written submission expressing her views on the revised scheme, Ms Ruthven maintains her opposition which, she claims, would create an 'undesirable precedent' by permitting a retail project to be built on 'scarce' industrial land.
"The objections raised within the initial response made by the Forward Planning Section remain", declares Ms Ruthven. "These proposals must be assessed primarily against Policy ED1 of the Scottish Borders Local Development Plan (LDP) 2016 which seeks to protect this strategic business and industrial site for business and industrial use.
"Furthermore, the Council recently adopted Supplementary Guidance (SG) and a Simplified Planning Zone (SPZ) for the Central Borders Business Park at Tweedbank in view of the Borders Railway Blueprint which states that the area will be developed to respond to, and capitalise on, opportunities brought by the Borders Railway with the provision of new high quality office accommodation, suites and facilities. Whilst the Blueprint seeks to promote a range of development options, these must be located within appropriate locations taking account of, for example, policies and land use allocations within the Council’s statutory adopted LDP 2016."
Ms Ruthven explains that the SPZ is intended to offer flexibility to help businesses and industries grow and adapt as well as encourage new opportunities to locate within the Central Borders, whilst maintaining high standards of development, care for the built environment and for the sensitive landscape setting.
Her submission adds: "The uses proposed as part of this planning application do not conform with the requirements of Policy ED1 nor the Supplementary Guidance/SPZ. To support this proposal would set an undesirable precedent and would undermine the Council’s strong position on business development at this location. It would also result in the loss of business land within the Central Borders which is a scarce resource."
Ms Ruthven points out that the most recent ELA (Employment Land Audit) carried out in the Summer of 2018 identified 2.3 hectares of immediately available employment land in the Galashiels / Tweedbank area. This includes the land subject to this planning application which accounts for 65% of the 2.3 hectares.
It is not considered this is sufficient to meet the anticipated demand and there is already current development interest being shown and implemented in the vicinity of the Central Borders Business Park.It is vital that existing employment land supply is retained and further land is allocated for this purpose.
The Tweedbank proposals include a 70 bedroom Premier Inn which has drawn criticism and opposition from local hoteliers.
Ms Ruthven writes: "The Hotel Assessment suggests that the immediate priority for a budget hotel should be Galashiels over Tweedbank. Even with the development of the Central Business Park, which would require a critical mass of businesses that generate hotel demand, the Assessment states this location suffers from a paucity of things to do in the evening and places to eat. The assessment states that a strategy that focuses a budget hotel development on Galashiels will enable hotel development to contribute to the development of the town and its evening economy. This has been reflected within the Galashiels Masterplan."
And she continues: "At a recent meeting with the Agent (for the Tweedbank retail project), the Agent was very clear that there was no developer interest for a hotel within the Galashiels Town Centre and if the Council did not support this proposal within the Tweedbank strategic industrial site, no hotel development would ever be forthcoming.
"However, it has since been noted in the local press that the Travel Lodge have been quoted as expressing a very keen interest in locating to Galashiels and this proposal will be discussed and developed further. Even if a case was put forward for a hotel in the vicinity of the Tweedbank Railway Station, a location within the strategic business park would not be appropriate on policy grounds."
Finally, Ms Ruthven tells the council's planning department that given all the work, finance and policy documents that have gone into promoting and taking measures to protect and develop the Business Park it would be erroneous of the Council if any business or industrial uses were unable to set up in Tweedbank as previously available land had been taken up by non-conforming policy uses such as those identified in this application.
"It should also be noted that although the application proposal will generate jobs, this will be to the detriment of other businesses who would be unable to set up within the Business Park due to these non-conforming uses taking up this allocated business land."
The application is expected to be considered by councillors later this year.
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