NEW proposals have been received by Scottish Borders Council this week, which if eventually approved, could see 91 new homes for Coldstream.
The plans from Hudson Homes (Hirsel) Ltd for a development at West Paddock, to be known as Leet Hough for the purposes of the application, are still at the pre-application notification stage, something which is now required as part of the new plannin
g legislation for all national and major developments.
The housing scheme is the result of a partnership between Edinburgh-based Hudson Homes and Douglas and Angus (Hirsel) estates, the owners of the land, and is due to be addressed by the council in the new year.
And director of Hudson Homes, Jamie Hudson, said if it gets the green light, the development would be an extremely positive one for the area.
"Douglas and Angus estates are heavily involved with the Coldstream community and have made positive contributions to local housing in the past.," he said.
"The important thing to note about this development is that it isn't dealing with large executive housing. The likelihood is that the properties will be at the lower end of the pricing scale, to help local people get onto the property ladder. An affordable housing contribution would definitely be something we'd embrace rather than avoid."
This was echoed by Henry Birch, factor of Douglas and Angus Estates.
Speaking to The Berwickshire News earlier this week, he commented: "We have spent the last two years developing this scheme and our aim is that it ties in with the traditional vernacular of the Hirsel Estate.
"The properties will be architecturally sympathetic to the landscape and existing builds, but most importantly they will be affordable homes for local people, not 'footballers' wives' style houses.
"The Estate's prime objective has always been to provide good quality housing for Coldstream.
"Rather than just sell the site onto a developer who may not have the community's best interests at heart, we are going to be involved in the building process ourselves and hopefully we'll end up with something we can all be proud of."
During a public inquiry into the Scottish Borders Local Plan last year, a Reporter recommended that the 4.3 hectare site to the north east of Duns Road, be removed as land for allocated housing but after a number of objections, Scottish Borders Council decided that it remain a part of the legislation.
Berwickshire Housing Association were one of the main objectors to the Reporter's recommendation as they realised the site's potential for affordable housing.
Unfortunately the finances aren't available for them to pursue any interest in the West Paddock development at present.
Every year Scottish Borders Council's Housing Strategy and Services team produce a Strategic Housing Investment plan, which identifies development opportunities. This is appraised by the Scottish Government and funding is then allocated.
However, the £5.6 million given to the Borders this year all went to the west of the region, meaning that potential projects in Berwickshire have been overlooked for the time being.
Chairman of the BHA Group, Helen Forsyth commented: "In principle BHA would be very interested to work with Hudson Homes in Coldstream. It is always subject to us being able to access Government grants to build affordable homes and at the present time no grant is available to us.
"However, we will continue to lobby for grant funding and hope to be able to develop homes in Coldstream in the next few years."
BHA communications manager, Colin Turner said that a mechanism is in place for money to be diverted to other areas in the Borders should the funds allocated to the likes of Peebles and Galashiels not be spent.
However, he added that even then, other projects such as the second phase of development at Acredale in Eyemouth could be favoured.
The Housing Association's past support for the West Paddock site, won the backing of Coldstream Community Council who made their feelings known to Scottish Borders Council during the local plan consultation period.
Their main reason for supporting development at the site was due to the fact it would include a significant amount of affordable housing for rent, something which hasn't been built in the town for over 10 years.
The community council said there was high demand for this in Coldstream, and although they supported the Reporter's view that the were other potential development sites in the town, they felt that due to their size, the number of affordable homes included would be minimal and would make little impact on the waiting list of local families looking for homes.
Coldstream is an area identified as being in need of regeneration and the community council has worked hard with SBC on this but without there being houses in the town that people, living in this low wage area, can afford to live in, they feel the social sustainability of the town could be under threat, as it could lose these families as they move away to seek jobs and housing elsewhere.
Martin Brims, chairman of Coldstream Community Council said they would definitely welcome development at the site and added the specifics of the new plans would be addressed at a future community council meeting.
Anyone with thoughts on the new development, should at this stage, get in touch with the applicant, rather than Scottish Borders Council.
This is in order that the applicant can decide whether to amend the scheme prior to making a formal application.
Hudson Homes were responsible for the 24 home development at The Grange in Berwick and currently have an application in for 250-300 properties nearby.
