History of Planning

Arrangements continued with Midlothian County Council in relation to the processing of planning applications until 1975; the staff of the county planning department, principally Charles Mackenzie, provided planning advice to the County Clerk and the Town Planning Committee.  It was decided not to pursue a review of the county development plan approved in 1955 but to amend the approved development plan as necessary.  The rail link between Penicuik and Galashiels, via Peebles East Station, closed in February 1962 and the route for a link road and by-pass to the east of Peebles town centre, which had been the subject of intense deliberation during the preparation of the county development plan, was resolved.  The county council agreed to purchase the East Station and an amendment to the development plan was prepared showing the new road linking Edinburgh Road with Innerleithen Road along the former railway line, and the remaining part of the station allocated for car parking and a bus terminus.  The former marshalling yard at March Street was designated for industry.  Peebles West Station, closed in 1959, was designated for residential and commercial uses, including a site for a new fire station.

On the tourism front, the future of the various holiday huts sites continued to test the resolve of the council.  There was a continuing demand to replace huts and caravans, extend existing caravan sites and develop new sites.  Milk bars and tearooms/cafes became established at a number of rural locations on the main road routes through the county.  Peter Maxwell-Stuart opened up Traquair House to the public and obtained planning permission for a shop and tearoom in 1963.  The 1960s had truly arrived in Peebles when, in 1966, a hut situated between Tweed Green and the High Street was the unauthorised venue for a ‘Beat Club’ [a venue for popular 1960s music].  A similar proposal in Romanno Bridge was refused planning permission in 1968.  Refusals of planning permission were rare prior to the 1970s, for it was the practice of the council (along with the other councils in the Borders) to defer decisions on applications that were not acceptable in the hope that an acceptable compromise could be reached or that the application would be withdrawn because of the opposition.

A Landscape and Tourism Development Plan, prepared in 1965, reviewed the AGLV designation that covered the whole county in the approved development plan, and proposed more specific areas along the Tweed Valley, the Manor Valley and the Leithen Water Valley.  It also identified various tourism proposals, including car park/picnic sites and camping/caravan sites.  In 1968, the whole of the county was designated ‘Countryside’ under the Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967 allowing grants of up to75% for countryside projects such as car parking/picnic sites in the Meldon Hills, Leithen Valley, Manor Sware Viewpoint and Cademuir, and for the employment of a part-time Ranger.  Planning permission was granted in 1968 for a roadhouse hotel (the Pantiles) at West Linton, together with a touring caravan site.  On the outskirts of Peebles, planning permission was granted for the Countryside Inn (another roadhouse type facility) at Kirnlaw, near Glentress Forest.  In 1969, the Bakehouse Tearoom in West Linton became established as a popular Sunday destination for coffee & cake.  In response to the growing popularity of caravanning, Rosetta House and its grounds were purchased by the county council in 1969 for development as a caravan and camping site.

With population continuing to decrease and low unemployment, local textile manufacturers imported labour from Midlothian.  An overspill agreement was reached between Peebles Town Council and Glasgow City Council to overcome the labour shortage and attempts were made to attract male-employing industries.  Peebles town council purchased the March Street Marshalling Yard in 1964 and the first factory was erected in 1968 by Litsters, a photographic finishing company, followed by Fidelitone, manufacturers of record styluses, in 1970.  Land at South Park would be acquired for industry by the town council in 1970.  Sand and gravel working in the northern part of the county continued to expand as the economy grew in the 1960s.  At Shiphorns, over 400 acres of land at Darnhall was granted planning permission in 1967 for sand and gravel working over a 30 year period.  In 1969, planning permissions were granted for the extension of the existing workings at Nether Falla, for a new area on Portmore Estate and for a new site at Tarfhaugh, West Linton.

On the housing front, the expansion of Peebles continued south of the Tweed with SSHA and local authority housing at Kingsmeadows Gardens and private housing at Edderston Road and Gallowhill.  Private housing was also proposed on a number of fields at St. Ronan’s Terrace, Innerleithen, whilst the SSHA continued housing development at The Pirn.  In 1968, Peebles Town Council appointed its own planning consultant to advise on the growth potential of the town.  At the same time, the county planning officer produced a draft ‘Urban Structure Plan’ for Peebles (along the lines suggested in the Government’s PAG Report ‘The future of Development Plans’ published in 1965).  This draft Plan set out future areas of growth with major expansion to the north (opposite Rosetta House) for housing and industry and the redevelopment of the Cuddyside area north of the High Street, which proved to be a very contentious issue.

The 1970s saw the rate of private housing in the county increase with development in Peebles, at Edderston Road, Bonnington Road and Gallowhill, at St. Ronan’s Terrace, Well’s Brae and Leithen Road in Innerleithen and at Bogsbank Road and Linton Bank Drive in West Linton.  The increasing pressure for housing at West Linton, including proposals for a major housing development at ‘The Hiddles’, would lead to the establishment, in 1973, of the West Linton Residents Association, which would become an influential pressure group and a strong voice over the coming years against the further expansion of West Linton.  In Peebles, the proposed re-development of Damdale Mill and Damcroft for private housing would prove contentious.  Eventually purchased by the town council, this area would be re-developed for rented housing by the SSHA.  In response to proposals to widen Cuddy Bridge at the west end of the High Street and demolish “Bank House”, Peebles Civic Society was born in 1973 with the intention of creating a local organisation that would protect and enhance the Burgh’s built environment.

As local government re-organisation drew closer, proposals for private housing were made in such diverse locations as Eddleston, Romanno Bridge, Broughton and Blyth Bridge as well as Peebles, Innerleithen and West Linton.  Proposals for three sites on Station Road, West Linton, which were refused planning permission, would have trebled the population of the village.  The number of planning applications jumped from an average of 150 per annum in the 1960s (146 in 1970) to over 230 in 1973.  The population of Peebles increased by 500 persons between 1964 and 1974 as a result of its attraction as a retirement location and with Edinburgh commuters.  Housing would be a major issue for the new Borders Regional Council with pressure for more development at West Linton, Eddleston and south of the River Tweed in Peebles.

 

The appointment of John Baillie, the County Planning Officer for Midlothian County, as planning consultant for the preparation of the county development plan ceased on 31 December 1960 with the submission of the development plan to the Secretary of State.  Somewhat reluctantly, the council agreed that T. D. Anderson, the County Planning Officer, would be unable to continue to deal with day-to-day development control matters and tackle any consequences from the development plan submission without additional staff.  The council agreed to the appointment of one planning assistant to deal with the processing of planning applications, approximately 200 per annum.  However, there was little response to successive advertisements for the post and   T. D. Anderson continued, alone, to deal with planning applications and related matters.

Objections to the development plan were received in relation to proposals for Eyemouth.  As a result, Planning Consultant, A.T. McIndoe was appointed in July 1963 to prepare an amendment to the Eyemouth Town Map to include harbour improvements and additional land for industry at Coldingham Road.  In response to the submission of the development plan, the Scottish Development Department requested that Areas of Great Landscape Value and Tourist Development Proposals, required by Circular 2/1961, should be included in the development plan.  T. D. Thomson of Coldingham, a tourism consultant, was appointed to produce a landscape and tourist development plan.  The county development plan would eventually be approved by the Secretary of State in February 1965 subject to the deletion of the AGLV designation that covered the whole county and the removal of a housing allocation at Lauder of land between the town and the proposed by-pass through the grounds of Thirlestane Castle.  The county council was asked to consider a reduced area for AGLVs covering specific areas such as the Lammermuirs, the coast, Lauderdale and the Tweed Valley around Scots View and Bemersyde.

Development control during the early 1960s continued to be undertaken by T. D. Anderson, the County Planning Officer, on his own.  As the number of applications increased, the committee agreed to delegate decisions on straight-forward applications to the County Planning Officer.  Eventually, in February 1965, a planning assistant was appointed to assist with the growing number of planning applications, which now exceeded 250 per annum.  During this time, there was increasing pressure for camping and caravan sites along the Berwickshire Coast, with developments at Eyemouth, Coldingham and Pease Bay.  Increasing visitor pressure at Coldingham Sands, and the resultant erosion of the sand dunes resulting from the proliferation of beach huts, prompted an examination of the measures that could be taken to protect the beach and dunes similar to those being undertaken by East Lothian County Council at Gullane.  Access to Cove Harbour also became an issue when the access road suffered damage from land-slips.  The Areas of Great Landscape and Tourist Development Plan, which designated several AGLVs, set out the policy on camping and caravan sites, and identified locations for new car park/picnic sites in the countryside and along the main routes through the county (the A1, A68 and A697), was approved in March 1966.

After 36 years’ service with Berwickshire County Council, twenty years as County Planning Officer, T. D. Anderson retired in July 1966 and Basil Knowles, a qualified planner and Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute, was appointed as his replacement and designated County Planning and Development Officer.  Basil Knowles, with a planning career stretching as far back as 1938, arrived from Shropshire (Salop) County Council, where he had been Assistant County Planning Officer.  At Berwickshire County Council, he was responsible for giving planning its rightful place in a county where the positive power of planning had never been fully understood.  With skill and imagination, he pioneered policies which showed how a rural county could, by its own efforts, check the downward spiral of depopulation and restore its confidence.

Basil Knowles quickly identified the issues that needed to be tackled at a time when economic and social change was driving changes in the planning system.  In a report to the Planning and Development Committee, which had now been separated from the Property and Works Committee, in September 1966, he set out his ideas for the future of the county; recommending:

• a programme of advance factories in Eyemouth and Duns to kick-start additional employment; the first nursery factories would be constructed in Eyemouth and Duns in 1967, the Scottish Industrial Estates Corporation (SIEC) constructed the first advanced factory at Coldingham Road, Eyemouth in 1968.
• a local authority housing programme to attract industry to the county;
• the possibility of large-scale afforestation in the Lammermuir Hills to create employment;
• road signage to promote scenic routes through the county, with car park/picnic sites at appropriate locations;
• a coastal path along the Berwickshire coast from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Cockburnspath; and
• a programme of amenity tree planting in towns and villages throughout the county.

On the appointment of Basil Knowles, the planning assistant, who had been appointed in February 1965 to assist T. D. Anderson with the growing number of planning applications, resigned his position and it would be June 1967 before a replacement, Robert Johnston, was found.  Nevertheless, policy reports were produced during 1966/1967 on the siting and design of new housing, the control of the development of caravan sites and the conservation of the Coldingham Bay/St. Abb’s area.  The Secretary of State approved the Landscape and Tourist Development Plan, as an amendment to the Development Plan, in January 1968.  The designation of the whole of the county as “Countryside” in terms of the Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967 opened the door for 75% grants for countryside projects such as Coldingham Bay and the provision of car park/picnic sites throughout the county.  The whole of the county, except the burghs of Coldstream, Duns and Eyemouth and the settlements of Chirnside and Earlston, was designated an “Area of Special Control” for the purpose of controlling the proliferation of advertisements in the countryside, such as advanced signs on the main arterial roads.  In March 1969, a number of towns and villages were designated as conservation areas, a by-pass for Ayton on the A1 was agreed with the Scottish Office and a plan for the redevelopment of Duns town centre was produced [a plan for Eyemouth town centre had been produced by A. T. McIndoe].

In June 1969, David Douglas was appointed Depute Director of Planning and Development to assist Basil Knowles on planning policy and economic development matters. Alistair Lorimer replaced Robert Johnston as planning assistant in October 1969 and the staff of the burgeoning department was expanded further by the appointment of a draughtsman.  The work of the Planning and Development Department continued to expand with involvement in the Eyemouth and Duns town centre redevelopments, a number of proposals for caravan sites and the expansion of existing sites in Eyemouth, Coldingham and Pease Bay, and car park/picnic site proposals at Renton Barns on the A1 and at Hexpath and Cambridge Crossroads on the A697.  During the early 1970s, the pressure on the Berwickshire coastline continued to increase, with a constant demand for additional caravan sites.  Cove Harbour would be purchased in 1971 and plans approved to repair the access road and pier, and convert the stores into toilets and a shelter.  In February 1972, the council agreed to purchase Coldingham Sands in order to control the increasing visitor pressure on the bay.

From 1970, attention was concentrated on the preparation of a rural strategy for Berwickshire, identifying locations for new industry and housing.  The ‘Draft Rural Policy for Berwickshire’ published in March 1972, aimed at stemming the decline in population and “achieving a quality of life for the population which will afford reasonable economic, physical, social, cultural and recreational opportunities in the county”, the objective being to restore confidence in the county and prove that well planned development can provide a rural society with the same opportunities as that of an urban society and retain the young and energetic population.  To utilise to the best advantage the limited economic resources available and exploit the potential of the county, it identified a number of settlement groups on which a range of facilities could be supported.  Each settlement group was related to a “growth point” where the main housing and employment opportunities would be concentrated.  The report proposed that detailed plans be prepared for each settlement group to identify opportunities for development.

Basil Knowles unexpectedly died in February 1973 and David Douglas was promoted to the post of County Planning and Development Officer.  He would continue the work of Basil Knowles in promoting the economic development of Berwickshire County.  The post of Depute Director was filled by Douglas Hope, who arrived from the Scottish Development Department where he had been engaged in producing guidance and advice on the new development plan system introduced by the Town and County Planning (Scotland) Act 1972.  An additional planning assistant, Alistair McLean, would be appointed to assist with the processing of planning applications, which now exceeded 350 per annum.

In the succeeding two years, a number of reports were prepared that would subsequently contribute to the policy making of the new Borders Regional Council.  A report on housing proposed private housing sites for some 300 private houses in a variety of settlements across the county.  A report on Housing and Industry proposed an extensive local authority housing programme in the burghs of Eyemouth, Duns and Coldstream to house incoming workers and land for industry.  Some 20 acres of land was purchased for industry at Acredale, Eyemouth and the former Station Yard in Duns was acquired for industrial development.  Advanced and nursery factories were constructed at Eyemouth, Duns and Coldstream and ELBA Growers, an agricultural co-operative constructed a major cold store at Eyemouth.  A study of Eyemouth Harbour proposed alterations to the harbour entrance and major development at Gunsgreen.  A report on Agriculture in Berwickshire examined how the pattern of agriculture might change in the future and how the local authority could assist this major employer in the county (20% of the employed population compared with 3% in Scotland as a whole).  Settlement plans were drawn up for Lauder, Chirnside and Greenlaw, to complement those produced for Eyemouth, Duns and Coldstream.  A detailed management plan was produced for Coldingham Bay.  From April 1974, attention was also concentrated on the route of the transmission lines across East Lothian and Berwickshire Counties from the proposed Torness Power Station.  A joint working group of officials would be established and this matter would cause friction between the two counties.  Consent for the power station was granted by the Secretary of State in March 1975 and formal consultation on the proposed 400Kv transmission lines commenced; an issue that would be taken up by the Borders Regional Council and Lothian Regional Council after May 1975.

As local government re-organisation drew closer, a report on population change in 1973-74 showed that the population of Berwickshire had increased for the first time in over 100 years (by 313 persons); a major achievement which the council considered was a result of its efforts to diversify the economy of the county through the development of industrial sites in Eyemouth, Duns and Coldstream and the attraction of industry and incoming workers.  These policies would be taken up by the new Borders Regional Council with the appointment of David Douglas as its Director of Planning and Development, the appointment of the Convener of Berwickshire County Council, Major J.M. Askew, as the Convener of the Regional Council and the appointment of the Chairman of the county’s Planning and Development Committee, Baillie Victor Parle, as the Chairman of the Regional Council’s Planning and Development Committee.

 

 

The Quinquennial Review of the Selkirkshire County Development Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State in October 1964.  The policy of the review was “To bring to a halt, in the first instance, the continual and steady depopulation of the county and then by the introduction and provision of facilities to encourage new industries to develop within the burghs, and the existing industries to modernise and expand, in order to raise the population in a reasonable and realistic figure necessary to create a thriving industrial and commercial community within a balanced environment providing adequate housing and a full range of social, commercial and recreational facilities and at the same instance to protect the amenity and character of the area from despoilment”.

During the preparation of the Quinquennial Review, there was little fore-warning of the future downturn in the textiles industry in the Scottish Borders.  Indeed, there was a shortage of female labour, prompting efforts to attract male-employing industries to the area and build substantial rented (local authority) housing to attract and accommodate incoming workers.  The Galashiels Town Map proposed additional land for industry at Langhaugh and Netherdale, and additional housing in a number of locations, including Buckholm Corner, Blynlee, Mossilee/Hollybush, Wester and Easter Langlee, and Boleside.  The Selkirk Town Map allocated further industrial land alongside the A7 at Dunsdalehaugh, and land for housing at Fairfield, Sentry Knowe and the Haining (on the Green).  In relation to the A7 trunk road, the Quinquennial Review retained the proposal for a Selkirk By-pass and improvements both south and north of Selkirk, including a new road along the former Selkirk Branch railway line and new bridge over the Tweed.  In Galashiels, the route of the A7, from a proposed roundabout at Sunningdale, followed a line along Abbotsford Road, Albert Place and Bank Street, through property to the rear of High Street and Island Street to Wilderhaugh and a roundabout on Wood Street, above Leabrae, and then across a viaduct over the railway and the Gala Water to Buckholm Corner.  The Quinquennial Review was approved by the Secretary of State in January 1968.

During the early 1960s, the traditional industries continued to flourish.  In 1961, Yarrow Spinners extended their operation with the erection of a spinning mill in Selkirk.  Gardiners also expanded with the erection of a new tweed mill in Selkirk.  In 1966, Gardiners undertook further extensions, as did Laidlaw & Fairgrieve in Galashiels.  However, by the late 1960s, the textile sector began to shed labour and to aid the attraction of industry to the region, the Peebles, Roxburgh and Selkirk Joint Planning Advisory Committee was set up in December 1969 to promote the Central Borders.  A Development Office was established and a Development Officer, Alistair Bilton, was appointed.  Nursery factory units were built in Galashiels and Selkirk.  About this time, two entrepreneurs, Robert Currie, a process engraver in the printing industry, and Kenneth Mill, an electronics engineer, started up the first electronics company, Currie & Mill, manufacturing PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards) in a modest building on the High Street in Galashiels.  After two years together, they split up, Kenneth Mill to found BEPI Electronics, which became established at Galabank Mill on Wilderhaugh.  Currie & Mill would become Exacta Circuits and establish a factory at Dunsdalehaugh in Selkirk.  It was from these two companies that many of the Borders electronic companies of the 1970s were descended; such as MEPD Met-Etch in Selkirk and Keltek in Kelso.  A broad range of other industries was also established at this time: Sprague (Electric) and Valerie Louthan (knitwear) at Netherdale, Galashiels; R.P. Adam (Arpal) initially at Netherdale, Galashiels and then Selkirk; Pye Electronics at Wilderhaugh, Galashiels.  In 1970, textile designer, Bernat Klein built his, award winning, design studio at High Sunderland, near Selkirk.

Whilst the Quinquennial Review of the Development Plan was being prepared, amendments were made to the existing development plan to allow a range of developments to proceed.  The first amendment, in 1963, related to the development of a 7 acre site at Fairfield in Selkirk for local authority housing.  Other amendments followed in the 1960s, including the allocation of playing fields at Netherdale, Galashiels for industry; the new bus station on Stirling Street in Galashiels; the redevelopment of Galashiels Market Square; new housing at Clovenfords; Wester and Easter Langlee, Galashiels; Sentry Knowe, Selkirk and within Gala Policies.  Housing redevelopment was concentrated in the Greenbank Street/Croft Street, Gala Park and Halliburton Place/Magdala Terrace areas of Galashiels.  A number of petrol filling stations were constructed in Galashiels.  TV masts were erected at Dryden, Ashkirk and Lindean, near Selkirk, to serve BBC and ITV respectively in the 1960s.  In 1970, planning permission was granted for Galashiels’ first supermarket, Coopers Finefare in Channel Street.  New swimming pools were built in Galashiels and Selkirk.

Other developments of note during this time include: the contentious cladding of the Capitol Cinema in Galashiels in 1971 [originally, the Playhouse when built in 1922, and the Capitol from 1959, the cinema was revamped with a bingo hall, discotheque, bar and restaurant and re-named the Kingsway in 1971; in 1995 it was sub-divided into four cinemas and renamed the Pavilion]; and the conversion of Philipburn House, Selkirk into an award winning hotel.  One of the last developments to be proposed prior to local government re-organisation in 1975 was the redevelopment of Galashiels Station Yard for industry and parking combined with a landscaped footpath corridor along the length of the railway line between Torwoodlee at the north-western boundary of the town and Tweedbank.  This proposal would be approved and implemented by the new Borders Regional council.

In response to the Central Borders Plan of 1968, the Galashiels Technical Working Party was established in 1970 with representatives from Selkirkshire County Council and Galashiels Town Council, the Scottish Development Department and Roxburgh and Berwickshire County Planning Departments to examine the growth potential of Galashiels.  Essentially, this working party was tasked with identifying the threshold capacity of the town rather than accommodate the population increase projected by the Central Borders Plan.  To some, it seemed that this was an opportunity to put forward an argument for development within Galashiels rather than at Tweedbank.  But the die had already been cast [the Secretary of State approved the Darnick (Tweedbank) Amendment to the Roxburgh County Development Plan in January 1968].

The Galashiels Technical Working Party examined the feasibility of alternative routes for the A7 through the town [neither the county council nor the town council were over-enthusiastic, about the route that had been imposed by the Scottish Development Department].  One serious alternative was to route the A7 along the now disused railway line from the northern boundary of the burgh to a point east of the town centre, joining Abbotsford Road near its junction with Tweed Road.  Alternatively, the route could continue along the railway line to Netherdale and, utilising the Selkirk Branch line, link with the A7 at Netherbarns.  It would also be possible to link this road with the Melrose Road via Winston Road or continue over the Tweed, utilising the railway bridge, through Tweedbank to Darnick [as an alternative to the route proposed in the Roxburgh County Council Darnick (Tweedbank) amendment to the development plan].  After lengthy consideration, the working party [reluctantly] came to the conclusion that there was no case for altering the already agreed route for the A7, which connected with the proposed Galafoot Bridge and route to Darnick.  However, the working party did consider that a new link road should be constructed along the railway line between Winston Road and Station Brae to relieve local traffic on the Melrose Road, a road which could be continued along Ladhope Vale to High Buckholmside (the A7).

The technical working party examined a number of housing sites stretching from Buckholm Corner in the north-west to the Langshaw Road in the south-east, including major sites at Mossilee and Hollybush, Gala Policies and Netherbarns.  Agreement was reached that future housing in Galashiels, in the period up to 1983 (the ten year period after publication of the report) should be concentrated in the Mossilee/Hollybush area with initial development at Kilnknowe on Wood Street.  Gala Policies provided the opportunity for some housing, the area around Gala House being suitable for a recreational park.  As regards industrial land, it was acknowledged that there was considerable scope to generate jobs within existing industrial areas, principally at Netherdale in Galashiels and at Dunsdalehaugh in Selkirk.  The site at Tweedbank would cater for considerable population increase.  Sites at Hollybush and Easter Langlee were identified as possible sites for industry in the longer term.

The Working Party report, published in January 1973 was, to some extent, overtaken by the re-organisation of local government in 1975 but it, nevertheless, formed an important input to the new development plan system of structure and local plans subsequently prepared by the Borders Regional Council.

In the 1960s, development plans prepared under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1947 were the subject of increasing criticism.  Because of the detail they contained, they tended to be inflexible and, although planning authorities were under an obligation to review them at five-yearly intervals, this rarely happened.  In the Scottish Borders, the Quinquennial Review of the Selkirk County Development Plan, approved in April 1955, was not submitted to the Secretary of State until May 1964 (and approved in January 1968).  Elsewhere, none of the county development plans for Berwickshire, Peeblesshire and Roxburghshire, approved in 1965, 1955 and 1965 respectively, were reviewed prior to local government re-organisation in 1975.  Development plans were largely updated by formal amendments, which also required the approval of the Secretary of State.  The obligation to afford objectors the opportunity of a hearing or public inquiry meant that a considerable period of time could elapse before such amendments were approved, as was the case with the Tweedbank amendment to the Roxburgh County Development Plan.  As well as being out-of-date, development plans were also criticised as being merely land use maps with little attention being paid to potential investment and how proposals would be implemented.  They also ignored the broader environmental, social and economic needs of the community.

Consequently, the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in England and the Scottish Development Department in Scotland jointly set up the Planning Advisory Group (PAG) in May 1964 to examine ways of improving the development plan system.  The PAG Report of 1965 proposed a basic change in the structure of development planning which would distinguish between the policy and strategic decisions required to guide development in an area and the more specific land use allocations and actions required to implement proposals at the local level.  County Plans, which would require ministerial approval, would be primarily statements of policy with a key diagram (not a map) and would concentrate on the broad pattern of future development but would not detail specific land use allocations as did the existing town maps.  Local plans, which would not require ministerial approval but must conform with the policies set out in the county plan, would be prepared for settlements within the county and set out land allocations and detailed policies to guide the control of development.  They would also identify action areas where specific action was required.

The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1969 set out the provisions for a completely new system of development planning, based on the PAG recommendations, which required the preparation of structure plans and local plans.  Structure plans would set out the broad policy framework for an area.  With the freedom from including detail policies and proposals, it was hoped that strategic issues could be settled more quickly than in the past.  Local plans would comprise detailed planning policies and proposals and must conform to the structure plan approved by the Secretary of State.

In England, Wales and Scotland, there was also general agreement in the 1960s that the system of local government was in need of reform.  In Scotland, there were more than 400 local authorities; 33 county councils, 4 city corporations, 197 town councils and 196 district councils.  In May 1966, the Labour Government appointed a royal commission under the chairmanship of Lord Wheatley to review local administration in Scotland.  A similar commission on local government administration in England was set up in June 1966 under the chairmanship of Lord Redcliffe-Maud.  The Wheatley Commission reported in September 1969 and recommended a new system of regional and district councils.  The report divided Scotland into seven regions, sub-divided into 37 districts.  However, following publication of the report and consultations with local authorities, changes were made; the South East Region was sub-divided and both Fife and the Scottish Borders were separated from Edinburgh and the Lothians.  Changes were made to the number of districts in the Strathclyde Region and regional and district boundaries amended.  The new authorities, 9 regions, 53 districts and 3 island authorities were introduced in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which also established non-statutory community councils.  Regional councils would be responsible for strategic planning, social services, education, roads and transportation; district councils for housing, local planning and building control, refuse disposal and licensing.  In relation to town and country planning, Highland, Dumfries and Galloway, and the Borders Regional Councils, together with the three Island Councils; Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland, were designated general planning authorities and given full planning powers.  In the other six regional councils, the town and country planning function was split between the region and constituent district councils.

It was hoped that the new system would avoid the delays of the past, reduce uncertainty and blight.  It was also hoped that they would be more responsive to public opinion.  Unfortunately, the proposed re-organisation of local government delayed the preparation of the ‘new style’ development plans.  The provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1969, were not finally brought into force until 1975 with the enactment of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972 and the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which required the production of structure plans for each of the nine regions and local plans for the constituent districts.

Meanwhile, in the Scottish Borders, following the publication of the Central Borders Plan in 1968 and encouraged by the Scottish Development Department, effort was concentrated on the establishment of joint working parties for individual burghs to examine the growth potential of the main towns in the central borders.  The Galashiels Technical Working Party was established in 1970 with representatives from Selkirkshire County Council, Galashiels Town Council and the Scottish Development Department.  In Roxburghshire, similar joint technical working parties were set up for Hawick, Jedburgh and Kelso.   Berwickshire and Roxburghshire County Councils produced reports covering the landward parts of their areas setting out policies and proposals for the rural settlements.  Peeblesshire County Council concentrated on the tourism and recreational aspects of its area. Selkirkshire County Council examined the problems of small settlements within the Ettrick and Yarrow Valleys.  Subsequent posts will look at each of these reports.

 

Some fifty years after the idea of a new village at Tweedbank, near Galashiels, was first raised, the final piece of the jigsaw has been put in place with the acquisition by Scottish Borders Council, on 6 December 2018, of the remaining part of Lowood Estate.  The area acquired extends to some 45 hectares (110 acres) between the Waverley railway line and the River Tweed.  The area is identified for a mix of residential and business development in the adopted local development plan.  The Tweedbank Masterplan prepared by Proctor Matthews Architects, considered by the council in January 2018, identifies the potential for some 300 houses and land for new business development.  This Masterplan will be taken forward in the new local development plan LDP2.  Although this purchase has been described as a bold development by the council’s Executive Member for Business and Development, maximising the benefits of the Borders Railway and creating hundreds of jobs, some councillors consider that the cost of the purchase (£9.6m) is a speculative and risky use of public money when budgets are constrained.  According to the council’s Executive Director, the Lowood project could cost £90m, including the cost of the purchase of the land, but it could potentially generate £150m of Gross Value Added (GVA).  It is estimated that 179 jobs could be created with a maximum of 173 construction jobs.  The overall Tweedbank Masterplan, which includes the refurbishment of the existing Tweedbank Industrial Estate, could cost £203m but would potentially generate £1.3b of GVA and create some 1,400 jobs.  It is considered that development on this scale is unlikely to be delivered without a comprehensive approach and public-sector pump priming; echoes of the philosophy behind the foundation of a new village at Tweedbank.

The idea for a new village at Tweedbank emerged in the mid-1960s.  The 1966 White Paper on the Scottish Economy 1965-1970 set out proposals to expand the economy of Scotland by providing new jobs and reducing the net loss of population experienced over the previous decades.  In relation to the Scottish Borders, the White Paper proposed that within the catchment area of Galashiels (a radius of 15 miles), which had a population of 73,000 persons in 1966, there should be a substantial and integrated programme of housing and new industry, the objective being to establish self-sustaining population growth.  A population increase of some 25,000 people over the succeeding 10-15 years (up to 1981) was proposed for the area comprising the three counties of Peeblesshire, Selkirkshire and Roxburghshire, excluding Kelso & District.

Professors Johnson-Marshall and Wolfe of Edinburgh University were appointed to prepare a plan for the increase in population of 25,000 people within the Galashiels Catchment Area.  Their report “The Central Borders: A Plan for Expansion”, commonly referred to as “The Central Borders Plan”, was published in two volumes in 1968.  The Central Borders Plan envisaged a “regional city” with the main settlements; Galashiels, Selkirk, Hawick and Jedburgh, sharing facilities and amenities.  In addition to the land allocated for housing in the main settlements in the existing County Development Plans, which could accommodate an additional 5,000 people, the Central Borders Plan incorporated a proposed new village at Tweedbank, where a population of 4,400 people was planned, and identified Newtown St. Boswells, which at the time had good road AND rail connections, as the location for a major settlement of some 10,000 population.

Excluding commitments in the existing County Development Plans, housing land for only an additional 1,700 people (out of the total of 25,000) was identified for Hawick, Selkirk and Jedburgh in the Central Borders Plan.  Not surprisingly, there was a strong body of opinion in Selkirkshire and Roxburghshire against the proposed expansion of Newtown St. Boswells.  Neither County Council showed any enthusiasm for major development at Newtown.  Selkirkshire County Council wanted to see more development in Galashiels and Selkirk, and Roxburgh County Council favoured a more modest increase of 3,000 people at Newtown St. Boswells with an enlarged share for Hawick and Jedburgh.

However, plans for Tweedbank were progressed; an amendment to the Roxburghshire County Development Plan was prepared in 1968 encompassing almost 300 acres of land, 190 acres of which was in the ownership of Lowood Estate (Mrs Constance Hamilton).  This amendment allocated land for housing and industry, playing fields, amenity open space and woodland and a new principal traffic route between Darnick and the A7 at Kingsknowes involving a new bridge over the Tweed.  As a result of objections from Mrs Constance Hamilton and others, public inquiries were held in December 1968 and March 1969.  The amendment to the county development plan was eventually approved by the Secretary of State in September 1969, following which a Masterplan for the development of approximately 1000 houses was prepared by the Scottish Special Housing Association (SSHA).

Land owned by five of the six owners was acquired voluntarily but Mrs Constance Hamilton declined to negotiate and a Compulsory Purchase Order was taken out.  Although this was also approved by the Secretary of State in September 1969, appeals to the Court of Session delayed the commencement of development until 1973.  The construction of the distributor road through Tweedbank commenced on 31 March 1973 and planning permission was granted for Phase I of the SSHA housing in June 1973 with house construction commencing in October 1973.  The new A68-A7 link over the River Tweed at Galafoot Bridge was opened in 1975.

SSHA would eventually build almost 300 houses in three phases over the next five years but the public sector housing programme came effectively to a halt in 1980 owing to a change in Government [the election of the Thatcher Conservative Government].  It was 1990 before Scottish Homes, formed in 1989, embarked on an expansion of housing at Tweedbank with a further 400 houses of varying tenure over a 6-year programme.  Eildon Housing would also build houses for rent and part-ownership.  Private housing would be built by Bett Homes in the 1980s and, more recently, by Barratt Homes.  By 2011, the population had reached 2,000 persons, considerably less than the 4,400 persons envisaged in 1968.

Within the centre of the village, a local centre was proposed comprising a primary school, community centre, shops, church hall and public house, situated close to a central lake formed in an existing swampy depression.  Tweedbank Primary School was opened in October 1976 [and was extended and refurbished in 2011] but there would be little progress on a village centre.  It was 1991 before a design/developer brief was prepared but efforts to find a developer floundered and little progress was made until 1995 when a block of three retail units was constructed.  The village centre now comprises a single local shop, a hairdressers and a bar/restaurant fronting the lake (originally described as the second lake in Scotland after the Lake of Menteith but now commonly known as Gun Knowe Loch).  Local offices of the Scottish Government’s Agriculture and Rural Economy Division are located close by.  A newly refurbished community centre is housed in the old Tweedbank Farm.  Lowood Mains houses a number of craft workshops.  A large area of playing fields and open space now includes an all-weather running track, an Astroturf football pitch, an indoor bowling club and sports complex.

Approximately 30 acres of land was allocated for industry in 1968, which it was estimated would accommodate approximately 500,000 sq.ft. [46,000 sq.m.] of floorspace and provide some 700 jobs.  The Scottish Development Agency (SDA) would be the prime mover in the development of the industrial estate, building both advance factories and bespoke units.  By the late 1980s, the SDA had built eleven blocks of industrial units of varying size, providing a total floor-space of some 120,000 sq. ft. occupied by tenants such as Hill Robinson Thread Co. Ltd., Tweedbank Circuits, Peri-dent Ltd., Magnet and Sprague Electric (UK) Ltd.  The Borders Regional Council built smaller workshop units (Eildon Mill).  In 1988, the Regional Council serviced 4.6ha of land on the north side of Tweedbank Drive and established Tweedside Park.  The first occupant was Radio Borders in January 1990.  They would be followed by Barbour, who moved from a smaller unit in Newcastleton, in 1996 and the Scottish Public Pensions Agency in 2001.  The Barbour factory closed in 2008, to be occupied by Plexus, an electrical wholesaler, until 2016.  The unit is now empty.

The SDA had begun to sell-off units to sitting tenants at Tweedbank from 1987 and in March 1990, the SDA sold substantial parts of its property holdings, including all land and buildings at Tweedbank, to Caledonian Land plc.  The Borders Regional Council made known its concerns to little effect.  The following year, the SDA was transformed into Scottish Enterprise, which established new local enterprise companies (LECs).  The Borders LEC, Scottish Borders Enterprise, was launched in April 1991.  Although not involved in building advanced factories, the LEC still had a role in providing business premises, such as building or converting existing buildings tailored to the needs of individual companies, environmental improvements and training.

Aggmore, a Real Estate Fund Manager, acquired the former SDA land/factory holdings in 2003, after a period of stagnation, and carried out various improvements.  By this time, manufacturing units had been converted to warehousing, with tenants such as Securicor, DHL, Plumbase and Plumbstore.  Electrical and telecoms firm Qube GB were attracted to the estate.  A significant part of the Tweedbank Industrial Estate is still understood to be owned by Aggmore.  The remainder comprises a mix of owner-occupied units and a tenanted unit (Eildon Mill) owned by Scottish Borders Council.

However, the industrial estate is suffering from an ageing and increasingly sub-standard stock of buildings and the size and layout of the buildings and related loading/parking areas are not consistent with modern requirements.  Four council sites, two on the industrial estate and two situated on the north side of Tweedbank Drive have been identified for development/redevelopment.  Tweedbank Industrial Estate has been designated a Simplified Planning Zone and associated Supplementary Guidance has been approved by the council to safeguard land and buildings for business uses.  Work on Supplementary Guidance for the Lowood Estate is to commence early in 2019 to be completed by the end of 2020.  A marketing and development strategy is to be developed in parallel.  Time will tell whether the acquisition of Lowood Estate is a prudent purchase or whether it will prove to be a ‘White Elephant’.  However, it should be remembered that the original purchase of Tweedbank in the 1970s was questioned in some quarters but I think all would agree that, 45 years later, albeit the population and employment projections have been shown to be over-optimistic, the project has been an overwhelming success.  Let us hope that we will be saying the same about this latest purchase in 20 years time.

 

 

The population of the Scottish Borders declined throughout the 1950s and 1960s, particularly in the rural areas.  The population of the four counties, together, fell by some 10,000 people between 1951 and 1971 (from 107,575 to 97,464), although the population of the burghs remained fairly stable with small increases in Peebles, Galashiels, Kelso and Eyemouth.  The population of Berwickshire declined by almost 4,100 people between 1951 and 1971 (from 25,068 to 20,962), that of Roxburghshire by 3,600 (from 45,557 to 41,959), that of Peeblesshire by 1,500 (from 15,226 to 13,675) and that of Selkirkshire by 900 (from 21,724 to 20,868).  Thus, by 1971, the population of the four counties had decreased by some 19,000 persons from its high point of 116,500 one hundred years previously.  Government intervention would be required to arrest this decline!

The 1966 White Paper on the Scottish Economy 1965-1970 set out proposals to expand the economy of Scotland by providing new jobs and reducing the net loss of population experienced over the previous decades.  The Borders, along with South-West Scotland, North-East Scotland and the Highlands and Islands, were the subject of special studies by the Scottish Economic Planning Board; these were areas that were essentially rural in character and dependent on agriculture, where the growth of other employment had not been sufficient to offset the loss of jobs in agriculture and a decline in population.  The study of the Borders covered an area encompassing the counties of Berwickshire, Peeblesshire, Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire, the Langholm District of Dumfriesshire and the northern part of Northumberland, including Berwick-upon-Tweed.

For the “Western Area” (the counties of Peebles, Selkirk and Roxburgh, excluding Kelso & District, together with Langholm & District in Dumfries County), the study concluded that without the provision of a range of employment opportunities, especially for men, the heavy outward migration of people of working age would continue, with all the consequent effects on existing industry, on the structure of the population and on the standard of service, social and cultural facilities.  The White Paper proposed that within the catchment area of Galashiels (a radius of 15 miles), which had a population of 73,000 persons, there should be a substantial and integrated programme of housing and new industry, the objective being to establish self-sustaining population growth.  A population increase of some 25,000 people over the succeeding 10-15 years (up to 1976-1981) was proposed for the area comprising the three counties of Peeblesshire, Selkirkshire and Roxburghshire, excluding Kelso & District.  Growth would be concentrated on Galashiels, in the first instance, to produce a geographic, economic, social and cultural focus for the Central Borders.  In the “Eastern Area” (Kelso & District, Berwickshire County, Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough and the northern part of Northumberland), where the economy was predominantly agriculture based, growth should be concentrated on Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Professors Johnson-Marshall and Wolfe of Edinburgh University were appointed to prepare a plan for the increase in population of 25,000 people within the Galashiels Catchment Area.  Their report “The Central Borders: A Plan for Expansion”, commonly referred to as “The Central Borders Plan”, was published in two volumes in 1968.  The Central Borders Plan envisaged a “regional city” with the main settlements; Galashiels, Selkirk, Hawick and Jedburgh, sharing facilities and amenities.  In addition to the land allocated for housing in the main settlements in the existing County Development Plans, which could accommodate an additional 5,000 people, the Central Borders Plan incorporated the proposed new village at Tweedbank, where a population of 4,400 people was planned, and identified Newtown St. Boswells, which at the time had good road AND rail connections, as the location for a major settlement of some 10,000 population.  Approximately four-fifths of the proposed growth of 25,000 people was thus located within a central corridor stretching from Galashiels to Newtown St. Boswells.  Industrial development would be concentrated within the areas zoned for industry in the existing towns, notably Hawick and Galashiels, in the first instance, with new industry at St. Boswells (Charlesfield) in the longer term.  Other proposals included a new District General Hospital between Galashiels and Melrose and town centre improvements in Hawick, Galashiels, Jedburgh and Peebles.

Excluding commitments in the existing County Development Plans, housing land for only an additional 1,700 people (out of the total of 25,000) was identified for Hawick, Selkirk and Jedburgh in the Central Borders Plan.  These Burgh Councils were not happy.  There was also a strong body of opinion, in Selkirkshire and Roxburghshire, against the proposed expansion of Newtown St. Boswells.  Neither County Council showed any enthusiasm for major development at Newtown.  Selkirkshire County Council wanted to see more development in Galashiels and Selkirk, and Roxburgh County Council favoured a more modest increase of 3,000 people at Newtown St. Boswells with an enlarged share for Hawick and Jedburgh.  None of the County Development Plans were amended to reflect the recommendations put forward in the Central Borders Plan.  Instead, working parties were established to examine the potential of larger-scale growth in Galashiels and Hawick.  The Galashiels Working Party Report, published in 1973, recommended that additional land at Mossilee, with a capacity of over 1,000 dwellings (3,500 people), be allocated for housing in a comprehensively updated Selkirkshire County Development Plan, which would also include trunk road improvements through Galashiels and the construction of a new road along the, now closed, railway line.  The Hawick Working Party Report, published in early 1974, proposed a population increase for the town of some 4,900 persons, far beyond that recommended in the Central Borders Plan.  Clearly, the view from Hawick was that the town’s status as the largest town in the Borders must be preserved.  Working parties for Jedburgh and Kelso, similarly, recommended significant allocations of land for housing and industry in their respective burghs.

Contrary to expectations, the population of the Central Borders continued to decline in the period up to 1971.  The population of Roxburghshire fell from 45,500 in 1951 to 42,000 in 1971; that of Selkirkshire fell from 21,700 to 20,800.  Hawick and Jedburgh lost population, whilst that of Selkirk and Galashiels remained stable.  Only Kelso experienced significant growth.  There was significant population decline in the landward areas.

The Central Borders Plan did not cover Berwickshire, except for Earlston and Lauder, or Peeblesshire.  In Berwickshire, the population fell by over 3,000 persons to 20,600 in 1971.  It would be 1972 before a draft ‘Rural Policy for Berwickshire’ would set out a more optimistic view of the future for the county than that expressed in the development plan, approved in 1965, and would identify settlements for expansion.  In Peeblesshire, the county population fell from 15,200 in 1951 to 13,700 in 1971.  Tourism was seen as the basis for future economic growth rather than industrial development, and a ‘Plan for Tourist Development Proposals’ was approved in 1969, including proposals for a range of picnic sites and car parks/viewpoints.

The next post will summarise the state of the Region on the eve of local government re-organisation in 1975, when the four counties of Peeblesshire, Selkirkshire, Roxburghshire and Berwickshire, together with a small part of Midlothian (incorporating the Gala Water valley villages of Stow, Fountainhall and Heriot) would be amalgamated to form the Borders Region and the Borders Regional Council would become the unitary planning authority for the whole of the Region.

 

Peeblesshire County Council pre-empted the enactment of the Town and Country Planning (Interim Development) (Scotland) Act 1943 by appointing its first Town Planning Committee in December 1940.  However, this committee undertook little business until September 1942 when consideration was given to the carrying out of a survey of the area in connection with the post-war planning of the county.  Frank Mears, who would produce the Regional Survey and Plan for Central and South-East Scotland, published in 1946, and who was undertaking a survey of Peebles for the town council in connection with its post-war housing scheme, was approached and agreed to undertake a survey of the county.  Work commenced in January 1943; the survey and preliminary town plans were to be completed within one year at a cost of £850.

By early 1944, although factual surveys of Peebles, Innerleithen, Walkerburn and other villages had been carried out, considerable dis-satisfaction was being expressed by the Town Planning Committee at the lack of any definite proposals for the county.  A great deal of time had been taken up up-dating the OS base maps and a lack of transport was inhibiting survey work.  In April 1944, Mr. Mottram, the architect carrying out the survey work on behalf of Frank Mears, was provided with a 7hp Austin car and the Regional Petroleum Officer was approached to sanction a supply of petrol!  It would be another year before the survey of the county was completed and preliminary proposals set out for post-war housing in Peebles.

In February 1944, following the coming into effect of the Town and Country Planning (Interim Development) (Scotland) Act 1943, Mr. A Anderson, County Surveyor, was appointed Planning Officer to deal with the expected rush of applications for interim development certificates.  There was a rash of applications for the erection of pre-fabricated houses in Peebles and Innerleithen by the respective town councils.  A preliminary report submitted by Frank Mears at the end of 1944 identified housing and industrial sites in Peebles and Innerleithen.  Kingsmeadows was identified as the area for a major expansion of housing in Peebles.  A report on housing in the landward area to sustain farming after the end of the war identified the requirement for 446 houses to meet the needs of agricultural workers and an ageing population.  Swedish timber houses were erected in a number of locations; Broughton, Skirling, Romanno Bridge, Lamancha and Eddleston.

Following the publication of the Central and South-East Scotland Study, by Frank Mears, in May 1946, consideration was given to the establishment of a Joint Planning Advisory Committee for the Borders.  It was generally felt by Peeblesshire members that Peeblesshire was geographically and economically more closely related to Edinburgh and the Lothians than the Central Borders.  In fact, Frank Mears suggested that there was an opportunity for the establishment of a joint planning department with Midlothian County Council, where John S Baillie had been appointed county planning officer, but the council did not consider this necessary at this time.

Probably due to his commitments with the Central and South-East Scotland Study, it was May 1947 before Frank Mears finally produced his report and plan for Peeblesshire County, which was publicised in the local press and the subject of consultation with Peebles and Innerleithen town councils.  Over the next 6 months, wide-ranging comments were received from Peebles and Innerleithen town councils and from Broughton and West Linton parishes.

Following elections in May 1948, and the enactment of the new Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1947, which introduced wide-ranging planning powers to control development, including the requirement to prepare development plans, the relevance of the Mears’ plan was questioned.  Considerable doubts were expressed about a number of proposals in Peebles and Innerleithen with questions over the proposed route of a by-pass for Peebles and the siting of new housing and industrial sites; a by-pass for West Linton and the need for a rigid control of holiday huts, shacks and caravans in the countryside.  As planning applications started to be received, thoughts turned to staffing and the council reluctantly decided in December 1948 to enter into an arrangement with Midlothian Council whereby the staff of that council’s planning department would carry out planning work for Peeblesshire County Council under the direction of John Baillie, the County Planning Officer.  Initially, all decisions on planning applications were considered by the Town Planning Committee with Baillie Cleland presiding.  However, by February 1949, decisions on planning applications were delegated to the County Clerk where the County Surveyor (A. Anderson) and the County Planning Officer (J.S. Baillie) had no objections.  The planning department of Midlothian County Council took over the responsibility of producing the development plan survey and report.

Major areas of housing development commenced in the early 1950s at Kingsmeadows in Peebles and at the Pirn in Innerleithen, including the provision of new schools.  The distribution of holiday huts, shacks, bus bodies and caravans throughout northern Peeblesshire was the subject of a major report resulting in the establishment of a joint Planning and Landward Health and Housing sub-committee to consider future policy.  Applications for the resumption of sand and gravel working at various locations in the county, such as Shiphorns Farm and Nether Fall near Eddleston, also provided a challenge for the Town Planning Committee.

Work on the development plan progressed through 1949, 1950 and 1951, and in March 1952 a draft development plan, which featured major road proposals for Peebles, was exhibited in the town.  The development plan proposed a by-pass in a 60ft wide corridor on the town side of the East Station from Northgate to Innerleithen Road much to the consternation of the Railway Executive.  Peebles West Station, on the south side of the Tweed, had closed to passengers in June 1950 although goods trains continued to run to Broughton and Symington until June 1954.  The West Station Goods Depot, connected by the seven arch skew bridge over the Tweed to Peebles East Station, continued in use until August 1959 and Peebles East Station continued in use until February 1962.  The town council preferred a route on the Venlaw Bank side of the railway.  Eventually, a compromise solution comprising a one-way road system on the town side of the East Station was agreed.  It was June 1953 before the development plan report was finalised and, following consultations with Midlothian County Council on matters of joint interest, it was submitted to the Secretary of State on 14 October 1953.

The Peeblesshire County Development Plan was approved on 23 December 1955.  It was based on a 1951 county population of little more than 15,000 persons and anticipated little change in population over the subsequent 20 year period.  Land for housing to accommodate an additional 500 persons in Peebles and 500 persons in Innerleithen and Walkerburn, together, was proposed.  In Peebles, land was allocated for housing on Edderston Road and at Kingsmeadows.  Land for light industrial development was identified at South Park, near the Cattle Market, and on Rosetta Road, north of the built-up area.  In Innerleithen, the Pirn site was identified for local authority housing and included a site for a new primary school.  Land south of the railway line was allocated for light industry.

Major road proposals included by-passes for Carlops, West Linton and Dolphinton on the A702 and for Romanno Bridge on the A701.  On the A72, a major new road was proposed by-passing Innerleithen and Walkerburn to the south.  In Peebles, itself, a number of significant road improvements had been debated and discounted but the plan retained the proposed widening of the west end of the High Street/Cuddy Bridge/Old Town and part of Northgate, involving the demolition of a number of frontage properties.

In the landward area, the main policy issues related to mineral working and the hut encampments.  A number of sites for sand and gravel working, roadstone quarrying, peat working and open cast coal-mining in the northern part of the county were identified.  Hut encampments at Carlops, West Linton, Eddleston and Peebles were identified for improvement and a policy of allowing individual huts in the countryside subject to there being no nuisance or detriment to the amenity was established. During the 1950s, planning permission for single holiday huts and caravans in the countryside were granted planning permission for a limited period of 5 years but owner/occupiers were encouraged to re-site them on recognised sites at Carlops, Eddleston and Peebles.  Enforcement action was taken against the numerous bus bodies (single and double-deckers) used as holiday accommodation.

As car ownership and car touring increased during the 1950s, there was a plethora of applications for petrol filling stations both in the urban areas of Peebles and Innerleithen and in the countryside on the main road routes.  Most applications were refused but planning permissions were granted for the ubiquitous ‘Milk Bar’ on a number of main routes through the county.  Advertisement applications on garages, hotels and public houses, including illuminated garage signs proliferated.  Advanced signs for hotels in the countryside proved most contentious.  The whole county outwith the two burghs was designated an Area of Special Advertisement Control.

As the 1960s dawned, in the landward area, mineral working, hut encampments and tourist-related developments would be the main issues facing the council.  In Peebles, its increasing attraction as a retirement and commuter town would bring pressures for housing development south of the river, leading to conflict with those who wished to conserve the town’s historic character.

 

Roxburghshire County Council established its Planning Advisory Committee in February 1944 to deal with the first applications for planning permission under the Town and Country Planning (Interim Development) (Scotland) Act 1943.  The Duke of Buccleuch was elected its first Chairman, with the committee advised by the County Clerk and County Architect.  John A.W. Grant, Architect/Planner of Edinburgh was engaged to prepare a planning scheme for the county.  Under the 1943 Act, the Department of Health expected planning applications to be dealt with within 14 days; there was no such thing as neighbour notification or public consultation of any kind, except that town councils (Hawick, Jedburgh and Kelso) were consulted on applications within their areas.  During the 1940s, large-scale housing schemes proposed by the town councils, such as at Silverbuthall and Burnfoot in Hawick and at Headrig in Jedburgh, were approved with little fuss, and with little planning advice other than that obtained from the County Surveyor, County Architect and County Sanitary Inspector.

A major issue for Roxburgh County Council was the future of the Charlesfield Bomb Factory site, near St. Boswells, built in 1942.  It was one of only two factories in Britain producing incendiary bombs and at its peak employed 1,300 people and produced over 1 million bombs a month.  Production ceased in 1945 and it became a Royal Navy Armaments Depot to store small arms and guns.  In 1947, it still employed over 170 male workers but both the Hawick and Galashiels Trades Councils were concerned about its future and campaigned to secure it as an industrial site.  However, it continued to be used as a storage, maintenance and repair facility for the Admiralty, employing about 100 workers (male and female), until the 1960s.

The Regional Survey and Plan for Central and South-East Scotland prepared by Sir Frank Mears, and published in 1946, recommended the establishment of a joint committee of local authorities based in a new regional hub at St. Boswells/Newtown St. Boswells where offices, a new hospital, an agricultural college, student accommodation and housing would be developed.  Industrial development would be concentrated in the existing burghs but the Charlesfield munitions depot was identified as a potential site for an assembly plant for the hundreds of pre-fabricated houses required after the war.  However, the idea of a regional centre at Newtown St. Boswells did not go down well with the four Border county councils; it was considered that the centralisation of authority in one location did not take due account of the historic pattern of development in the Scottish Borders and local politics.

Nevertheless, following the enactment of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1947, which introduced wide-ranging planning powers to control development, including the requirement to prepare development plans, discussions were held between the four Border county councils regarding the co-ordination of town and country planning across the region.  Although Peeblesshire County Council did not consider there would be any benefit to its area from such co-ordination, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire and Berwickshire County Councils decided to form a joint planning advisory committee for such purpose and in July 1947 approached architect/planner F.W.B. Charles, who had been the lead professional in the Central and South-East Scotland Study, to explore the practicalities of preparing a joint development plan for the three counties.  However, after providing estimated costs for his appointment to prepare a development plan for the three counties, and further deliberation on the practicalities of employing a consultant, the joint planning advisory committee, on the recommendation of the three county clerks, decided in October 1947 not to proceed with a joint development plan.  The reason provided in the minutes is the progress that had been made by Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire County Councils on the preparatory surveys of their areas, although it has to be said that the progress made by these two councils was not exceptional.  Indeed, work on the survey of Roxburghshire County continued throughout the next two years and it was December 1949 before an interim survey report was produced by John A.W. Grant.

At the end of 1949, Roxburghshire County Council still had no planning staff of its own, advice on planning applications being provided by the County Architect.  John A.W. Grant was engaged to prepare the development plan.  However, progress was slow; much time was spent on up-dating the out-dated 1:2500 scale OS Maps for the burghs (1921 editions for Hawick, Jedburgh and Kelso).  The 1947 Act required planning authorities to prepare a development plan within 3 years of the commencement date, 1 July 1948, and in 1951 the Department of Health for Scotland suggested that the council should employ its own planning staff but the council was not persuaded.  However, as the years passed by and the Planning Advisory Committee became increasingly dis-satisfied with progress on the development plan, the council decided in October 1952 to appoint additional staff in the County Architects Department to assist with the preparation of the development plan.  The services of John A.W. Grant were dispensed with.

The County Architect, Alastair M. Milne, was appointed County Architect and Planning Officer in March 1953 and the Planning Advisory Committee was re-named the Planning Committee.  George B. Ovens, who would rise to become Depute County Planning Officer in 1968 and would be appointed Depute Director of Planning and Development for the Borders Regional Council in 1975, was poached from Selkirkshire County Council and was appointed Town Planning Draughtsman.  In November 1953, a planning assistant was appointed to provide further assistance with development control matters.

During the 1950s, there was a proliferation of advertisements, on hotels, public houses, garages and petrol filling stations, and advanced signs in the countryside.  The council designated the whole of the county as an Area of Special Control for Advertisements, except for the burgh of Hawick, parts of the burghs of Jedburgh and Kelso and parts of Melrose, Lilliesleaf, Newstead and St. Boswells.  The Committee agreed to the retention of advanced signs such as that for the Peebles Hydro located on the A68 at Newtown St. Boswells (one of a number of such signs sited throughout the Borders area) but requested the removal of others, such as a similar sign advertising the Peebles Hydro on the A68 south of Jedburgh and signs for the Dryburgh Abbey Hotel on the A68.  Mindful of the growing attraction of caravanning and camping, caravan sites were granted planning permission on the A68 south of Jedburgh and on the A7 south of Teviothead and north of Galashiels; planning permission was granted for a motel and petrol filling station on the A7 at Groundistone Heights between Ashkirk and Hawick (which was never implemented).

Extensive consultations and discussions took place with the town councils over various allocations and proposals for Hawick, Jedburgh and Kelso, and it would be May 1957 before a draft development plan comprising the Survey Report and Written Statement, County Map, Town Maps for Hawick, Jedburgh, Kelso, Melrose, Newtown St. Boswells and St. Boswells, and a Programme Map, was completed and submitted to the Department of Health for Scotland for informal comments.

The development plan was based on an estimated county population of 44,560 in 1972, a decrease of about 1,000 persons on the 1951 Census figure.  Clearly, the county council was not optimistic about the future.  No definite industrial proposals were included in the Plan other than in Jedburgh, where the collapse of the rayon industry in 1956 had resulted in the loss of some 500 jobs.  The policy on residential development was concentrated on replacing over-crowded and unfit houses and meeting general needs through local authority housing.  Road proposals dominated with major road improvements proposed for the A7 and A68 trunk roads and improvements to the A698.  Road widening schemes in Hawick, Kelso and Melrose required the demolition of large numbers of properties and major changes to the historic street patterns in these towns that would cause consternation in later years and would be dropped from subsequent development plans.

It would be December 1961, partly due to the delay in the response from the Department of Health on the draft development plan, before the finalised development plan was submitted to the Secretary of State; the last of the four county development plans in the Scottish Borders to be prepared.  The next post on planning in Roxburghshire will examine the approved development plan in some detail and will also look at the impact of the Government’s White Paper on the Scottish Economy 1965-1970 and the subsequent Central Borders Study: A Plan for Expansion, published in 1968.

 

The first meeting of Selkirkshire County Council’s Planning Committee was held on Thursday 28 October 1943 but it was at the second meeting on 18 January 1944 that it appointed its Chairman, Major Scott Plummer of Sunderland Hall, and conducted its first business.  The first task for the new committee was to establish a system for dealing with applications submitted under the Interim Development powers conferred by the Town and Country Planning (Interim Development) (Scotland) Act 1943.  Under the 1943 Act, the Department of Health for Scotland expected planning applications to be dealt with within 14 days; there was no such thing as neighbour notification or public consultation of any kind.  In Selkirkshire, the County Clerk dealt with applications timeously and reported to the Planning Committee.

The first planning application, approved at the committee held on 28 April 1944, was for improvements and alterations to Langhaugh House on the Melrose Road, Galashiels [now demolished!].  Only five other planning applications were received in 1944, submitted by Selkirk and Galashiels town councils for the erection of temporary housing.  Twenty-one applications were determined in 1945, and eighty in 1946.  By 1950, the number of applications, all dealt with by the Planning Committee, had risen to 125.

The 1943 Act also required planning authorities to initiate a survey of their area (of the use of land, the use and condition of buildings, the provision of services such as water and drainage, gas and electricity, school provision and bus routes).  The Edinburgh Architectural Association had already undertaken a preliminary survey of Galashiels Burgh in 1943 for the Department of Health, which was responsible for town and country planning in Scotland at Government level.  In accordance with the requirements of the 1943 Act, the committee asked the burgh surveyor of Selkirk to undertake a comprehensive survey of Selkirk and John C. Hall, architect of Galashiels, was appointed to undertake the survey of the landward area.  Surveys of Galashiels, Selkirk and the main villages in the county, Ashkirk, Clovenfords, Ettrickbridge End and Yarrowfeus were completed by the end of 1944 and interim planning schemes were prepared in draft.

In Galashiels, the Department of Health had earmarked almost 20 acres of land at Gala Policies (Forest Gardens and Balmoral Avenue) for local authority development.  Local builders, John G & George A Hunter, built private houses at Glenfield and along the north side of Melrose Road at Wester Langlee.  In Selkirk, the town council submitted proposals for new housing at Raeburn Meadow and Philiphaugh (Bannerfield).  Although the County Agricultural Committee objected to the loss of agricultural land at Philiphaugh because of the effect on Philiphaugh Farm (a dairy farm), the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland (DAFS) had no objections and consent was granted.

Following the enactment of the Town and County Planning (Scotland Act 1947, there were discussions amongst Roxburgh, Selkirkshire and Berwickshire County Councils regarding the establishment of a joint advisory committee and the appointment of a planning officer to prepare one development plan for the three counties.  However, after some discussion, it was decided that each county council should appoint its own planning officer to prepare a development plan for each authority.  John C. Hall, who acted as County Architect, was appointed County Planning Officer for Selkirkshire County Council in September 1948 and given authority to employ additional staff to carry out the statutory duties required by the new Act.  All planning applications were submitted to the County Clerk, W T Dundas and considered by the Planning Committee, John C Hall and subsequently his son, John B Hall, providing planning advice.  George Ovens, who would later move to Roxburgh County Council and eventually become its Depute County Planning Officer, and Harold Hudson, were set to work on the preparation of the first development plan for Selkirkshire.

By October 1950 a draft development plan had been produced for discussion with Galashiels and Selkirk Town Councils.  Trunk road proposals were a significant issue, particularly in relation to the A7.  The Ministry of Transport had proposed a by-pass for Selkirk prior to the Second World War and, following the publication of the Regional Plan for Central and South-East Scotland in 1946, consulted both Roxburgh County Council and Selkirkshire County Council on a new trunk road linking the A68 and the A7 between Newtown St. Boswells and Galashiels involving a by-pass to Melrose and a new bridge over the River Tweed in the vicinity of Kingsknowes.  Whilst Selkirkshire County Council and Selkirk Town Council welcomed a by-pass for Selkirk, both the County Council and Galashiels Town Council had concerns over the impact on Galashiels of the proposed new link between the A68 and the A7.  Both the County Council and Galashiels Town Council favoured a by-pass to the west of the burgh involving a new road from the vicinity of the Tweed Bridge, on the A7 south of Galashiels, via Hollybush and Mossilee to cross the Gala Water and railway line at Wood Street and connect with the A7 at Torwoodlee.  The Ministry of Transport did not favour this expensive solution and also pointed out that such a route would not serve the traffic arriving at Kingsknowes from the A68 along the new link road.  Much to the consternation of the County Council and the Town Council, the Ministry of Transport proposed a new road through the centre of Galashiels from Abbotsford Road through Bank Street Gardens and the rear of High Street (involving the demolition of the old town hall) and Island Street, to connect with Wood Street and thence across the Gala Water to Torwoodlee.  Meetings between the County Council, the Ministry of Transport and the Department of Health ensued throughout 1950 and 1951.

The County Development Plan for Selkirkshire, one of the first to be produced in Scotland, was submitted to the Secretary of State in March 1953.  It was based on retaining a stable population in the landward area with small increases in Galashiels and Selkirk; with a target 1973 county population of 22,169 compared with a 1951 population of 21,724.  Local authority housing in Galashiels was concentrated in the Balmoral area and at Wester Langlee (to include a new school).  Sites for private housing were allocated at Ladhope and off Abbotsford Road at Binniemyre, Sunningdale and Brunswickhill.  In Selkirk, local authority housing was concentrated at Bannerfield.  In Galashiels, the plan included a proposed new bus station in the station yard to replace the use of the Market Place.  As regards the route of the A7, the county council wished to include a by-pass to the west of Galashiels, which would aid the development of the Hollybush area in the longer term, but the Ministry of Transport prevailed and the development plan included a new road through the centre of Galashiels.  The Secretary of State approved the development plan in April 1955, subject to the area at Sunningdale only being identified for longer term development after construction of the new link road.

On submission of the development plan to the Secretary of State, Harold Hudson sought pastures new and left the employ of John C Hall.  George Ovens also left and moved to Roxburgh County Council, to be replaced by Duncan Laing, who took up the position of Junior Planning Assistant.  However, it seems that during the 1950s it was impossible to attract suitably qualified planners to the Scottish Borders (Selkirk County Council was not alone, for Roxburgh County Council experienced the same difficulties) and there were no suitable candidates to fill the post vacated by Harold Hudson.  Therefore, throughout the mid-1950s there was only one dedicated member of staff, Duncan Laing, to support the County Planning Officer in providing advice on planning applications.  Work had also fallen behind on the Quinquennial Review of the Development Plan, a requirement of the 1948 Planning Act, so when Duncan Laing left in September 1957 and his position could not be filled, John C Hall was given authority to employ other staff within his practice on planning work.  Consequently, two people who would become well-known Border characters would emerge onto the planning scene; Frank Entwistle, an architectural technician within John C Hall’s practice, who took over responsibility for the review of the development plan, and John Gray, who had been taken on as an apprentice draughtsman in June 1956.  Frank Entwistle’s involvement in planning in Selkirkshire would continue until the re-organisation of local government in 1975, after which he would establish his own architectural practice.  John Gray would become an established figure in planning in the Borders and would subsequently pursue a career with the Borders Regional Council after 1975, eventually becoming a prime mover in the economic development of the region.

Throughout the late 1950s, work continued on the Quinquennial Review of the Development Plan against the background of a continually falling rural population, largely due to the mechanisation of agriculture.  In the period 1951 to 1961, the population of the county declined by some 700 persons.  Much emphasis was placed on the modernisation and expansion of existing industries and the encouragement of new industries to Galashiels and Selkirk.  Overspill agreements were negotiated with Glasgow Corporation to attract additional workers to meet the needs, particularly for female workers, of the traditional tweed and knitwear industries.  Large areas in Galashiels and Selkirk were identified for local authority housing.  Proposals were set out for the extension northwards of the Riverside Industrial Area in Selkirk along Dunsdale Road with a new junction on the A7 north of the Toll.  Outline plans were drawn up for the redevelopment of Selkirk town centre (the area bounded by Market Place, Kirk Wynd, Back Row and Tower Street), involving the demolition of some 150 unfit houses.  The county council continued to push for a by-pass to Galashiels but the Scottish Home and Health Department would not agree to the inclusion of a by-pass in the Quinquennial Review.

The next post will examine the Quinquennial Review, submitted to the Secretary of State in May 1964 and approved in January 1968, in some detail and will also look at the impact on planning in Selkirkshire of the Government’s White Paper on the Scottish Economy 1965-1970 and the subsequent Central Borders Study: A Plan for Expansion, published in 1968.

 

Berwickshire County Council established its Town and Country Planning Committee in June 1944 to deal with the first applications for planning permission under the Town and Country Planning (Interim Development) (Scotland) Act 1943.  Lord Home [the father of Sir Alec Douglas-Home] was elected Chairman of the new committee.  T. D. Anderson, from the council’s Roads Department was appointed Planning Officer, although he had no qualifications in town and country planning.  He had a typist to assist him!  Minor applications were dealt with by the County Clerk, in consultation with the Planning Officer.  T. D. Anderson was also charged with undertaking a survey of the county, apart from Eyemouth Burgh where the Burgh Surveyor was asked to undertake this task.

In March 1946, the Government’s Department of Health for Scotland, which had the responsibility for planning at national level, met the council’s Town and Country Planning Committee to discuss the way forward, little progress having been made on the survey of the county.  The Department of Health considered that additional staff were required and recommended the appointment of two planning assistants and a draughtsman in addition to the Planning Officer and his typist.  However, the council considered that the size of the county did not warrant such a large department and was content with its Planning Officer and typist in support.  Over the next year, the Department of Health for Scotland made further attempts to persuade the council to enlarge its staff but, with only an average of five planning applications a month, the council was not persuaded.

In March 1947, the council decided to merge the Planning and Property & Works Departments and T. D. Anderson took up the post of head of the new department.  Two members of staff were transferred from the council’s Public Health Department to assist with the additional workload but all planning matters remained the responsibility of  T.D. Anderson alone.  In the immediate post-war period, the majority of planning applications submitted related to proposals by the burgh councils for new local authority housing and the majority of these applications were dealt with expeditiously.  However, the burgh councils were consulted on all other applications submitted within their areas and this meant that these applications took longer, which was a cause for concern.

Following the dissolution of the Central and South-East Scotland Regional Advisory Committee, which had overseen the Frank Mears Study, and the enactment of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1947, which introduced development plans, the four border counties discussed how development planning might be co-ordinated across the Scottish Borders.  Initial thoughts were that one development plan might be produced for the whole region and architect/planner, F.W.B. Charles, who had led the Frank Mears Study, was approached to prepare a development plan for the region.  However, after considerable deliberation, it was decided (by the County Clerks) that, in view of the progress being made in Selkirkshire and Roxburghshire (and the estimated costs of employing a consultant), it would be more sensible for each county to produce their own development plan.  It was agreed that a joint planning advisory committee should be established to ensure liaison between the counties.

In Berwickshire, with little progress on a survey of the area, the Department of Health for Scotland, in November 1948, again sought to persuade the council to appoint additional staff to undertake the preparation of the development plan and suggested that up to six staff were required.  The council baulked at this but eventually agreed to appoint two planning assistants, who duly took up their posts in July 1949 and set to work on a survey of Eyemouth and Duns burghs.  One of their first tasks was to bring the out-dated Ordnance Survey (OS) maps up-to-date, a major challenge for many planning departments at this time.  In Berwickshire, the latest edition of the 1:25,000 OS maps was produced in 1908!

In December 1949, after further pressure from the Department of Health for Scotland, the council decided to appoint a consultant to prepare the development plan and, after interviewing three candidates, the council appointed architect/planner F.W.B. Charles and he quickly set to work.  Unfortunately for the two planning assistants, appointed by the council in July 1949, they were not required by the planning consultant who had his own team and they were duly given notice to quit in February 1950, after only 9 months in the job.

T. D. Anderson continued to be responsible for dealing with the day-to-day activities of development control. Major Askew became the Chairman of the Planning and Property and Works Committee, as it had been called since March 1947, in May 1950. At this time, county council membership was dominated by the landed gentry, the clergy and other professional people.  For instance, in July 1950, the Planning and Property and Works Committee comprised:

• • • • Major Askew (Chairman)
      • Brigadier Swinton
      • Lieut. Col. Miller
      • Rev. R. Hamilton
      • Dr. Mitchell Innes
      • Earl of Ellesmere (became Duke of Sutherland)
      • Earl of Home
      • Captain McDougall
      • Rev. W.B. Paton

On the development control front, the emergence and expansion of holiday hut sites was a growing issue across the Scottish Borders in the late 1940s and 1950s, and Berwickshire was not immune.  In Lauderdale, for instance, which was accessible from the urban area of Midlothian to the north, the illegal siting of buses, caravans, huts etc. caused increasing concern to the council’s elected members.  A police report of September 1950 itemises twelve buses, trailers, railway carriages, caravans and huts in the Oxton area, such as:

• Railway carriage without wheels, three rooms, fenced in and concrete paving laid round; Occupier: James Bryson, Dalkeith;
• Tramcar; Occupier: Reynolds Arnott, Edinburgh;
• Double-deck bus on wheels; Occupier: J. Allan, Tranent.

In October 1950, the council decided to split the Planning and Property & Works Department into two and T. D. Anderson was appointed County Planning Officer.  Progress continued on the preparation of the development plan with F.W.B. Charles producing town maps for the burghs and the other main settlements.  Each of these was the subject of consultation with the respective burgh councils.

In 1952, with the election of Major Askew as Chairman of the County Council, Brigadier Swinton took over chairmanship of the Planning and Property and Works Committee.  The continued illegal siting of railway carriages, caravans and shacks in various parts of the county prompted the county council to establish a Camping and Caravans Sub-Committee with the aim of taking enforcement action to remove the illegal encampments and encourage bone-fide mobile caravan sites in suitable locations.

By September 1953, a Draft Report of Survey, together with Town Maps for Duns, Eyemouth, Chirnside, Coldstream and Lauder, had been completed by F.W.B. Charles.  His involvement in the development plan ceased at this stage, co-incidentally he had moved from Edinburgh to the English Midlands, and John B. Hall of J & J Hall, Architects in Galashiels, who had prepared the Selkirkshire County Development Plan was approached to complete the development plan.  After a number of meetings and deliberations over the cost of appointing John B Hall, the architect withdrew his interest in taking over the development plan in September 1954 due to health issues.  Under continuing pressure from the Department of Health for Scotland, approaches were made to East Lothian Council to discuss the possibility of its County Planning Officer, Frank Tindall, who had completed the East Lothian County Development Plan, to undertake the Berwickshire County Development Plan.  Although the County Planning Officer was enthusiastic, the council would not release him.  With little progress over the ensuing two years, the council approached Midlothian County Council to enlist the services of its County Planning Officer, John Baillie.  Midlothian County Council agreed and John Baillie was appointed in January 1957 as planning consultant with responsibility for finalising and submitting the development plan to the Secretary of State.

By the mid-1950s, the number of planning applications received each year had risen to over 200 per annum.  The number of applications for illuminated signs at petrol filling stations, hotels and public houses increased as such businesses sought to cater for the growing number of car-borne travellers.  In the late-1950s, the first rumblings about visitor pressures at Coldingham Sands is evidence in committee minutes.

After three years of deliberation over such matters as the siting of new industry, a by-pass for Coldstream and the upgrading of the A697, the County Development Plan was agreed in draft form, for consultation with the burghs and other parties, in December 1959.  It was agreed to extend the agreement with Midlothian County Council over the services of John Ballie, its County Planning Officer, until December 1960.  In June 1960, the council received its 3000^th planning application, an average of 200 per annum since 1945.  The Planning Department moved from the Council Buildings in Newtown Street, Duns to Southfield Lodge on Station Road.

The County Development Plan was finally submitted to the Secretary of State in December 1960.  The Plan was prepared on the assumption that the 1957 population of 23,753 would at least be retained, additional population in the burghs off-setting the decline in population in the landward area.  It was not envisaged that there would be any demand for housing in the landward area and no housing allocations were made outside the burghs of Eyemouth, Duns, Coldstream and Lauder, and Chirnside and Earlston.  It was the policy of the county council to encourage industrial development, although there appeared little prospect of attracting industry to Berwickshire, and sites for industry were identified in the burghs and Chirnside and Earlston.  Harbour improvements at Eyemouth were proposed.  A long list of road proposals for the trunk roads (A1 and A68) and the A697 were identified, with by-passes for all the main towns and villages on these roads, such as Ayton, Reston, Grantshouse and Cockburnspath on the A1, Lauder and Earlston on the A68 and Coldstream on the A698.  In the landward area, the Lammermuir Hills, the coastal strip and the Tweed Valley around Dryburgh, Bemersyde and Scott’s View were identified as Areas of Great Landscape Value.

In the next post we shall see how Berwickshire County Council reacted to the continuing decline in employment opportunities and population in the county and to the rapidly changing circumstances of the 1960s brought about by increasing mobility and changing patterns of leisure and recreation.