A DEPLETED planning committee of Scottish Borders Council agreed on Monday to grant planning consent for a new gallery building at Tweedbank to house the Great Tapestry of Scotland.

The decision was made by a bare quorum of four councillors – Lib Dem chairman Ron Smith and SNP members Donald Moffat, Joan Campbell and Jim Brown.

All four had, in December last year, voted to “support the construction” of a new building on a site across Tweedbank Drive from the rail terminus and to allocate £3.5m towards its £6m cost.

Three others on the nine-strong committee – Tories Michelle Ballantyne and Jim Fullarton and Galashiels Independent Bill White - chose to declare an interest and absented themselves from the Newtown chamber ahead of Monday’s proceedings.

Apologies for the absence of Iain Gillespie (Borders Party), on medical grounds, and of Simon Mountford (Con), who was attending a public enquiry on behalf of the committee, were tendered.

Last week former council leader Drew Tulley said it would be inappropriate for the committee to determine an application from SBC on land owned by SBC because its members had expressed opinions, either for or against, at public forums.

He claimed any decision would thus be open to legal challenge.

But on Monday, SBC’s chief legal officer Nuala McKinlay advised that the committee had both the legal capacity and “a duty” to consider the application.

Council planning officers recommended approval of the bid, subject to a raft of conditions, including the submission of detailed plans by SBC officers for the demolition of neighbouring Eildon Mill to provide adequate visitor parking for the attraction.

Before reaching their unanimous decision to approve, members heard two presentations.

The lack of parking, particularly for coaches in an area struggling to cope with the parking needs of rail passengers and sports complex users, was cited by Brian McCrow on behalf of objectors. 

“With the proposal before you, the visitor experience will potentially be one of an inappropriate setting or of a building site,” he told the committee.

Chartered surveyor John Tait from Hawick, also supporting the objectors, alleged a “conflict” between pedestrians and delivery vehicles and said shortcomings with the roof drainage channels could lead to flooding within the building.

In a presentation in support of the application, former councillor Carolyn Riddell-Carre said the artwork was a “national treasure” which would become a Borders-wide attraction, while retired businessman David Garrioch, stressed the enormous interest which the tapestry would generate among visitors to Edinburgh – now just a 55-minute train ride away.

Alistair Moffat, chair of the tapestry’s charitable trust, said nearly 330,000 people had seen the tapestry in a little over a year, placing it in the top 20 of Scottish visitor attractions.

Of the Tweedbank site, Mr Moffat enthused: “It is perfect to show the tapestry in the best possible way. It will light up our lives and put the Borders back on the map.”