COUNCILLORS have voted to relax restrictions on new businesses opening in Hawick and Galashiels town centres in a bid to combat the decline of the region’s high streets.

Members of Scottish Borders Council’s planning and building standards committee agreed to a recommendation put forward by council officers to no longer restrict the type of businesses which can open on Hawick’s High Street.

Previously, only businesses which the council believed would generate footfall, such as restaurants and clothes shops, would be granted permission to open there, but councillors have now elected to remove the restrictions as part of a one year pilot scheme.

Councillors have also agreed to remove the need for developer contributions, where the council asks planning applicant to provide extra funding for schools, play parks and local amenities.

For Galashiels, the committee has agreed to retain restrictions on the type of businesses which can open along Channel Street and Bank Street, albeit with a much more flexible approach which will allow previously barred businesses to open in the heart of the town centre.

Leisure businesses, professional or financial services and non-residential institutions will now be tolerated along the town’s two main shopping streets, and businesses such as tattoo shops and travel agents will be able to open providing they can prove they will generate footfall for the area.

The changes in regulations for both town’s retail hubs will form part of a one year pilot, the results of which will then be used to inform policy for the region’s other town centres.

A report, presented to the committee by Charles Johnston, Scottish Borders Council’s lead officer for plans and research, said that considered changes to policy must happen immediately for Hawick and Galashiels in order to save the town centres.

Asked by councillors how the pilot scheme will be measured for success, Mr Johnston said: “This now means that any business that would get permission to open in the wider town centre would now stand a good chance of getting permission within the core activity area.

“The reality is, are we really going to get a town centre without vacant properties?

“So to measure the success of the pilot scheme, we will look a footfall figures and vacancy rates.

“Through time, the monitoring process should give us a good idea of how well the pilot is doing.”

In agreeing to the implementation of the pilot scheme, Kelso and District councillor Simon Mountford said: “I’m personally pretty supportive at this stage of the discussion, I think we should suck it and see.”

The report shows that in Hawick, footfall has more than halved since 2007, whereas Selkirk and Duns has seen footfall reduction of 25 per cent.

Melrose, Jedburgh, Galashiels and Peebles have all seen reductions of between 14 and 18 per cent, but Kelso has managed to regain its footfall numbers to 2007 levels following a slump in previous years.

Empty shop fronts are an increasingly common sight across the UK, and the Scottish Borders is no different, especially in Galashiels where the percentage of vacant retail units is 15 per cent, representing a total of 37 empty stores.

Hawick and Selkirk lag not far behind, with 14 per cent of the respective town’s shops lying empty, and 13 percent of Jedburgh shops are also bare.

Meanwhile, Peebles, Kelso, Duns, Melrose and Eyemouth have kept the percentage of empty shops in their town centres at 8 percent or below.

Speaking after the meeting, Leaderdale and Melrose councillor Tom Miers said: “These changes will make it easier for new businesses to invest in our towns.

“We need to move with the times and recognise that high streets are shifting away from traditional retail towards a broader mix of leisure, business and specialist shopping.

“This pilot scheme will test new policies to help that process while preserving the essential character and vibrancy of our towns.

“Towns like Hawick, with its magnificent High Street, have enormous potential, and this council is determined to unlock that and encourage new business, new life and new dynamism amidst the superb built heritage that we already enjoy.”