WHAT is the strategy for attracting visitors to Galashiels if major attractions like the Great Tapestry of Scotland are to be sited on industrial estates?

The need for the town to be in a position to fully exploit the return of the railway in less than 11 months was highlighted in those rhetorical terms by retired businessman Mike Gray at an open meeting in the Volunteer Hall last week.

And he called into question the decision by Scottish Borders Council to focus purely on two sites near the new station for Tweedbank when it commissioned a £40,000 feasibility study into the tapestry with its 160 embroidered panels.

That piece of research is set to be completed later this month and presented to the council in November.

Since the study was commissioned, the Scottish Government has confirmed it is prepared to fund half the estimated £5million capital costs of the Tweedbank project with the council and other grant-funding partners due to cover the balance.

Although public money will underwrite the cost of the visitor centre, it is the tapestry’s trustees who are calling the shots as far as its location is concerned, having indicated the attraction will be lost to the Borders if it cannot be at Tweedbank.

“I was recently ranting on about the tapestry, which I hope does come to the Borders, and the fact that, currently, only two Tweedbank sites are being considered,” said Mr Gray. “I was asked 'Ah, but do you accept that Galashiels is not really a tourist town like Melrose and Peebles?’ While I accept that, I want to know what is the strategy for attracting visitors to Gala which will encourage more retail and economic activity, if major attractions are to be sited on industrial estates?

“We are told that up to 35% of train passengers, over 215,000 a year, are to be visitors, but why should they get off in Gala? What attractions do we have to develop for the future? I hope our four Galashiels and District councillors on SBC have done all that they can to have fully – and I mean fully – researched all the options and all the potential sites [for the tapestry] in Galashiels.” None of the three town representatives who attended the meeting – councillors Bill White, Sandy Aitchison and John Mitchell – chose to confirm or deny if any sites in the town had been explored.

But after the meeting, Conservative councillor Gavin Logan (Tweeddale East) from Clovenfords suggested the upper floor of SBC’s new £5.3million transport interchange, currently under construction in Stirling Street, would be a “feasible” location for the tapestry.

“It should be remembered that the platform at the Galashiels train station is going to be lengthened to accommodate anticipated extra tourists, so it defies logic to have this important attraction [the tapestry] at a railway siding next to an industrial estate at Tweedbank,” Mr Logan told the Border Telegraph.

“My information is that it would be feasible to house the tapestry at the transport interchange as there is sufficient uncommitted space in the building to do so. An alternative option would be the old Burgh Yard.

“I believe Galashiels, which has been the focus of so much investment in relation to the railway, has a great deal going for it with its impressive war memorial and beautiful Bank Street Gardens. Having the tapestry in the town would be the icing on the cake.”