AN impassioned plea for Scottish Borders Council to ditch its £3.5m investment in a new centre for the Great Tapestry of Scotland next to Tweedbank’s rail terminus fell on deaf ears today (Thursday).

It came from Innerleithen community councillor Brian McCrow who had raised an online petition calling for last December’s funding decision to be reversed.

But after a two-hour debate at Newtown, SBC’s seven-member petitions and delegations committee, which included leader and Tweedbank councillor David Parker, agreed to take no action.

The 4,440-signature petition stated: “We believe the decision made by SBC to fund a building in Tweedbank to house The Great Tapestry of Scotland is an unacceptable use of our council budget at a time when essential services are being cut.

“As residents and tax payers of SBC, we therefore request our elected members to overturn the decision to spend £3.5m in this manner.”

Among the signatories was additional needs teacher Victoria Anderson of Traquair who stated: “Our department is badly under-funded…this is quite an absurd and insulting suggestion.”

Mr McCrow took issue with the business case for Tweedbank which cost SBC £40,000 to commission.

“There was no serious investigation of alternative or cheaper sites…and there was no polling of prospective visitors to establish the need in the short and long term,” Mr McCrow told the committee.

“The tapestry trustees tell us the work has been seen by 320,000 Scots in their

locality at no cost, so will they pay for travel [£15 on the train from Edinburgh] and an entrance fee [£10 for an adult] for a second visit and if they didn’t bother to go when it was on display locally free of charge why will they now pay?”

“The general feeling from Borders residents is that the £3.5m spend by SBC on this new building is a poor use of resource…and may lead to a loss making position that would pull money away from roads, education, social work and health.”

Committee member Councillor Stuart Bell (SNP Tweeddale East) did not accept that analysis claiming the project would generate a gross value added dividend of £800,000 a year which dwarfed the £208,000 annual loan repayment which borrowing £3.5m will incur over 30 years.

Councillor Parker noted the Scottish Government’s commitment to contribute £2.5m to the £6m Tweedbank project as part of its Railway Blueprint initiative.

He recalled that 6,000 people had signed a petition in Hawick against SBC spending £6m creating the Heart of Hawick cultural centre which, he claimed, now attracted 154,000 visitors a year.

And he said other sites in Galashiels had been considered, but ruled out on cost grounds.

Meanwhile, SBC officers are recommending approval of the council’s bid for planning consent for the centre which is due to be considered by the planning committee on Monday.