THERE are occasions when consulting the public is without doubt the right and proper thing to do, admitted Scottish Borders Council leader David Parker last week.

But he claimed that deciding on the location of a £6m visitor centre to house the Great Tapestry of Scotland was not one of them.

“In coming to a decision about the future home of the tapestry, it was consultation and agreement with the tapestry trustees that was the critical issue to be addressed,” said Mr Parker.

The question of consultation, or the lack of it, over the choice of site – an area covered by a tree preservation order close to the Tweedbank rail terminus - was raised at the council’s April meeting by Councillor Gavin Logan (Ind, Tweeddale East).

This prompted Mr Parker to read out a lengthy statement in which he stressed: “The tapestry is owned and managed by its trustees and it is up to them to determine its future. This council has, at all times, been guided by the trustees’ requirements. It is not in the gift of the council to determine the location of the tapestry.” Mr Parker recalled that “over a year ago” the council was made aware there had been a number of bids from around Scotland to give the tapestry a permanent home and spoke to the trustees about the possibility of it being located in the Borders.

“The trustees were strongly of the view that the only suitable location they would consider would be in the Galashiels-Melrose area,” he explained.

Mr Parker described how several sites in that area had been considered and rejected by the trustees.

“If I could sum up the trustees’ views, they simply feel the tapestry would be best placed in Tweedbank. It is also their strong view that a purpose-built centre is the best way forward to ensure the tapestry is properly displayed and managed for the future.” And Mr Parker said that during a private session of the council a year ago, the trustees had stressed that if their preferred location at Tweedbank was not taken forward, then the tapestry would not come to the Borders.

“They would simply accept one of the offers that they had available,” he added.

Responding to this explanation, Mr Logan asked Mr Parker to comment on reports that it was the council, rather than the trustees, who had insisted on the new-build at Tweedbank.

“That is a complete fabrication,” blasted Mr Parker.

After the meeting, Mr Logan told the Border Telegraph: “While I reluctantly accept that we cannot be told for reasons of confidentiality which other Scottish local authorities were prepared to bid to host the tapestry, I feel many Borders will be concerned at the way the trustees have been calling the shots throughout this whole process.

“Yet it is the council who is putting up the bulk of the cash [£3.5m] for the new building.” According to the website of the tapestry, its trustees include local author and historian Alistair Moffat, best-selling author Alexander McCall-Smith, the BBC radio journalist and broadcaster James Naughtie and the artist behind the project Andrew Crummy.

The art work, hand-stitched and comprising 160 panels, is currently on display until May 31 at a free exhibition at Ayr Town Hall.

The business case for the Tweedbank centre, which will be run by a trust and is due to be operational by September next year, envisages a £10 adult admission fee and predicts annual visitors after year three of 47,000.