Scaled down Borders windfarm 'no longer a threat to Hermitage Castle'

by EWAN LAMB

Heritage watchdog Historic Environment Scotland [HES] will not object to the development of a 53-turbine windfarm in the Borders although the area contains scheduled monuments and the largest concentration of prehistoric hillforts anywhere in the United Kingdom.

HES had warned it would try to block original proposals by Muirhall Energy to erect 62 turbines and carry out associated works to create the Teviot windfarm in open countryside south of Hawick. 

The agency feared the project would compromise Hermitage Castle, one of the finest examples of a medieval castle in Scotland, and other monuments of national importance - the Tinlee Standing Stone, a 1.35-metre high pre-historic stone, and the Catrail Earthworks.

But in a newly published submission to the Scottish Government's Energy Consents Unit, HES says the removal of some of the turbines coupled with "mitigation measures" means it will not now object to the scheme. But it is conceded one of the turbines will still have an impact on the castle which has associations with Mary Queen of Scots and Sir Walter Scott.

In its statement, HES explains: "Our key interests in this case relate to the potential impacts on the setting of the designated historic environment assets in the vicinity of the proposed development. We welcome the work that has been done to date to address the impact on the historic environment."

In a section of the submission dealing with Hermitage Castle, HES says the monument is one of the great medieval fortresses of Scotland. The castle and its surrounding surviving medieval elements, including a chapel and deer park, occupy a prominent site on the valley floor on the north bank of the Hermitage Water, with steep rising hillsides to the north and south. The monument had a strategic role in controlling passage through Liddesdale, commanding views along the valley to the east.

"The original proposed development would give rise to significant adverse impacts on the integrity of the setting of Hermitage Castle caused by the appearance of a number of turbines in views towards the castle and directly behind/above it from the main approach road from the south east. This raised issues in the national interest for this asset and we would have objected to the scheme on grounds of significant adverse impacts on the integrity of Hermitage Castle’s setting."

In the view of HES, the removal of some turbines and the reduction in height of others  had significantly reduced the visual impact on the castle on the approach from the south-east. But the tip of Turbine 28 would still appear on the ridge directly behind and above the monument in a key view towards the castle on the approach road.

"We therefore disagree with the conclusion in the AEI (Additional Environmental Information) Report that the proposals would result in a minor level of effect. Other than a line of telegraph poles beside the minor road, this would appear as the only modern structure within this landscape.

"However, we consider that the design revisions presented in the AEI Report have considerably reduced the visibility of the wind farm on this key approach to Hermitage Castle. Following the mitigation the effect has been reduced to a level where it would no longer significantly affect the integrity of setting of the scheduled monument or raise issues of national interest." 

The HES assessment reaches similar conclusions for the Tinlee Stone and the Catrail.

The statement ends: “Although we disagree with some aspects of the applicant’s approach to the assessments, we agree with their overall conclusions of no more than a minor significance of effect for the majority of scheduled monuments with the exception of those identified above. We do not object to the proposed development."

A very different approach has been taken by Kenneth Moffatt, member of a family of artists and goldsmiths who have had a business - the Johnnie Armstrong Gallery and Borderlands Museum at Teviothead alongside the A7 trunk road - dating back to 1978.

In his lengthy written objection to the windfarm, Mr Moffatt writes: "We have constantly been involved in raising the profile and attempting to have the archaeology and the cultural heritage of the region both recognised and recorded, as an asset for the area. No consultation has taken place with local businesses on the Teviot windfarm footprint, other than the limited few who appear to be financially involved, directly or indirectly, with the proposal."

Mr Moffatt claims the windfarm will dominate the epicentre of the Teviothead Volcanic Complex, a unique and largely understudied geological region of concentrated clustered volcanic vents. As a spur of the Cheviots, these hills form an incredible and almost impregnable natural fortress – the consequence of which caused the Romans to build Hadrian's wall.

He adds: "Additionally the Teviot wind farm footprint has unique and compounded archaeology of international importance, from the prehistoric period onwards. This region, however, is almost completely unexplored, and to date no serious modern archaeological investigations or excavations have taken place at all.

"The broader region in which the Teviot wind farm proposal is set has a total of 408 recorded prehistoric hillforts. This is the highest concentration of hillforts found anywhere in Scotland, Ireland, England or Wales. In fact this is 25 percent of the total number of hillforts found in Scotland, and 10 per cent of the total found across the UK and Ireland combined."

And, according to Mr Moffatt: "This region is now included by extension in UNESCO's World Heritage Roman Frontier. In a region of such archaeological importance, elsewhere in the UK it would be required to have a full team of archaeologists surveying and excavating ahead of any proposed scheme – as we see for instance on the HS2 project – with major discoveries as a consequence.

"Until a full and comprehensive study of the region is made, for a scheme of this magnitude to be allowed would be a reprehensible act of vandalism in the eyes of the world".

Liquidator unpaid for nine years' work costing £100,000

by OUR BUSINESS EDITOR

The research and development company which preceded the evolution of the worthless Avocet group of businesses headed by now bankrupt 'entrepreneur' Martin Frost is to be dissolved after a nine-year liquidation process.

But AFS Ventures Ltd., just like several other entities involved in the non-development of a wonder fuel, will leave unpaid debts as well as an unsolved mystery concerning the fate of its intellectual property (IP), said by Mr Frost to be worth £4 million. 

The patents were sold to Omega Infinite PLC, the Avocet parent company once chaired by Mr Frost, but subsequently the subject of a compulsory liquidation order and with financial deficits running into many millions of pounds.

Reports prepared by AFS Ventures liquidator Eric Walls, of KSA Group, include an entry of £680,000 for an 'Intellectual Property Settlement'. 

However, in a statement of receipts and payments submitted to the Registrar of Companies earlier this year, Mr Walls declared that the final level of consideration in respect to the IP sale had not been paid.

He wrote: "It had been unclear as to whether any further funds would be realised in respect of the company's IP due to the complexities of this matter, and the compulsory liquidation of Omega. 

"Having reviewed the latest progress report of that liquidation, I now consider that the likelihood of any realisation in respect of the amounts owed for the IP are extremely remote. I therefore now intend to bring my administration of this case to an end".

Mr Walls was appointed voluntary liquidator of AFS Ventures in February 2015, a month after Mr Frost, in his capacity as a director of the firm, signed a Declaration of Solvency which affirmed the company would be able to pay its debts in full together with interest within 12 months.

According to the Declaration, the patents were worth £4 million while liabilities totalled £2.85 million.

But a Statement of Affairs produced by Mr Walls in 2021 included a sum of £493,000 as the book value of the IP. But the actual amount the patents would realise was described as "uncertain".

In a Final Account Prior to Dissolution, published today by Companies House, Mr Walls reveals details of a first and final dividend of 2.07 pence in the £ paid to preferential creditor HMRC. The revenue had lodged a claim for £100,650 which means it will receive approximately £2,083.

Unsecured creditors who will not receive a dividend of any kind are law firm Womble Bond Dickinson, owed £75,000 and KSA Group, due £100,000 for Mr Walls' remuneration.

The liquidator repeats earlier statements that he has complied with his obligations under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. The Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has requested that the contents of the report remain confidential.

Mr Walls adds: "This is an extremely complex matter, further complicated by the compulsory liquidation of Omega and the bankruptcies of certain individuals connected to or associated with both the company and Omega".

Formal dissolution of AFS Ventures will occur automatically approximately three months from now.

 

Country house renovation ends in financial disaster

by DOUG COLLIE

A development company set up to renovate a Victorian manor house in the Scottish Borders ran up debts estimated at £2million after a potential sale fell through when the property suffered major damage as a result of a heating system failure.

Details of the financial problems which bedevilled the firm behind the restoration of Cardrona House, near Innerleithen, have been revealed in a so-called Statement of Proposals by administrators appointed by a finance company due £1.5 million from the failed business.

Margo Eyre Property Development Ltd. was set up in 2019 by Jennifer Anna Marguerite Redhead-Eyre who lives in the big house under a tenancy agreement. 

According to the report by administrators Michelle Elliot and Chad Griffin, of insolvency experts FRP Advisory, Ms Readhead-Eyre claims she is an unsecured creditor of the company and is owed £369,000 under a director's loan account.

A claim for £15,500 arising from 'disputed' legal fees has also been lodged by the law firm Clarity Simplicity Ltd which petitioned Selkirk Sheriff Court in May to have Margo Eyre Property Development wound up.

A month later Together Finance, the secured creditor, lodged a Court of Session notice of the appointment of administrators.

The Statement of Proposals filed at Companies House says: "The company's aim was to renovate the property [Cardrona House] to allow it to be sold at a profit. It is understood the company did not initially undertake any other trading activities and there are no other known assets".

Following the impact of COVID, the company applied for and secured Bounce Back loan support.

The administrators add: "In June 2022, the company re-financed its borrowings with a loan from Together Finance which was granted a standard security over the property and a floating charge.

"The property was marketed for sale and a deal was agreed in principle, with an expected completion date in January 2023. In December 2022 there was a failure of the heating system which resulted in significant water and other damage to the property. The purchaser subsequently withdrew from the sale".

The inability to sell the house meant Margo Eyre Property Development was unable to repay the loan owed to Together Finance. The director advised of a potential new buyer but details were not provided.

"Rescuing the company as a going concern will not be achieved", say the administrators, "as it did not have sufficient working capital to continue to trade in the short term, and insufficient assets to liquidate to satisfy creditor demands".

Even the secured creditor is unlikely to be repaid in full, explains the report. The intention is to dissolve the company as it is not anticipated there will be any funds available for distribution to unsecured creditors.

The last published accounts for Margo Eyre Property Development, covering the year to February 2023, showed an operating loss of £213,000 and net liabilities of £1.239 million. The business had no employees.

The administrators state: "An estimate of the property value has not been disclosed in order to protect commercial confidentiality ahead of the marketing process".

Cardrona House is a B-listed manorial-style property dating from 1841 and designed by prominent Scottish architect William Burn. The house was commissioned by Captain James Ker, who served in India with the 33rd Madras Regiment. The Ker family owned the Cardrona estates from 1685 until the 20th Century.

Empty 19th Century villa costs its owners over £1 million

by LESTER CROSS

A once-splendid early 19th Century classical villa by the banks of the River Tweed is to be marketed by estate agents seventeen years after the charity which owns it vacated the property.

Gattonside House, near Melrose, a former care home run by the Brothers of Charity [BOC] (Scotland), fell victim to vandals and to thieves who stole the roof lead after the religious order moved out in 2007. 

There have been a number of attempts since then to take forward plans aimed at converting the B Listed house into 15 flats with new build homes in the substantial grounds. But after development schemes were abandoned, the BOC Trustees were forced to take drastic action to safeguard the crumbling structure.

In 2022, Scottish Borders Council planners approved the installation of a temporary roof and scaffolding for a period of two years to enable permanent restoration of the damaged roofing timbers and slates. 

But now it has been revealed the extensive repairs to the roof have not been carried out. And agents for the Trustees have applied to the council for an extension to the current short-term measures. 

Solicitor Sandy Fowler, of the agents, Harper Macleod, explains in a report backing the fresh application for Listed Building Consent: "Whilst the dampness has now dried out as a result of the temporary roof being erected, it has been reported that wet rot and dry rot have spread throughout the building, including into the roof beams. 

"As a result, it is not feasible to simply replace the lead roof in isolation without undertaking significant further restoration works required to the residual building. Even if it were possible to complete the roof works in isolation without further addressing the wet and dry rot, our client has a very real concern that if the Council were to mandate the roof to be replaced at this point in time, then the replacement roof will simply be stolen once again whilst the building remains unoccupied."

Mr Fowler says Gattonside House is currently uninhabitable and will continue to remain unoccupied. 

He adds: "To evidence this concern, despite the continued existence of security fencing over the site, there is evidence that the site continues to be breached by intruders. Our clients are a charity, and to date, they have incurred significant expense in erecting the scaffolding and installing the temporary roof (approximately £900,000) and erecting and maintaining security fencing at a cost of approximately £120,000 per annum."

The initial cost of simply replacing the lead roof (without undertaking the further works required) have been estimated at approximately £850,000. 

"To sufficiently restore the roof will therefore involve addressing the wet and dry rot throughout the property, and given the vast sums involved, as well as the outlined security concerns, this will have to be completed by a developer as part of the overall restoration of the property under the Development Permission. The Property is currently in the process of being marketed with Savills to allow for a purchaser of the site to be found. 

According to Historic Environment Scotland's file on Gattonside House: "A well-detailed early 19th century Classical villa with additions by distinguished architects, John Smith, of Darnick, and Robert Lorimer, located beside the River Tweed overlooking the Eildon Hills. The bow-fronted, arcaded porch provides a striking central feature to the principal south facing elevation while inside, a fine top-lit inner hall with arcaded upper gallery is an important centre-piece to the arrangement of interior spaces, adding to the building's special interest.

"Between 1821-1824, Sir Adam and Lady Ferguson, close associates of Sir Walter Scott lived at Gattonside House. Following this the house was acquired by retired banker George Bainbridge who employed eminent local architect, John Smith of Darnick in 1824 to enlarge it."

The house was taken over by BOC in the early years of the 20th Century, and it functioned as St Aidan's Care Home for the charity until it was no longer required for that purpose. 

Ten years ago discussions were held between BOC and Rivertree Developments Ltd, a firm specialising in the conversion of large country houses with a view to forming a joint venture to ensure Gattonside's future. At the time it was estimated conversion work to produce 15 apartments would cost in excess of £2 million. However, the proposals did not proceed and a planning application was withdrawn in 2016.