A DATE has been set for driving forward plans to turn Innerleithen into European capital for mountain biking..

As we revealed before Christmas, proposals to create the continent's first mountain bike innovation centre at a historic disused mill in the town had been progressed.

A public consultation has now been organised for Thursday, January 24 to gauge public opinion on the Caerlee Mill proposals..

The Tweed Valley is already one of the world's leading destinations for mountain biking with over 300,000 visitors each year arriving at nearby Glentress.

Following on from a community meeting held in 2017, plans have been progressing towards a vision of how Innerleithen can capitalise further on the growing popularity of the sport.

An initial business case for the project is one of a number of proposals in the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal proposition that is currently subject to ongoing negotiation with the UK and Scottish governments.

And the outline business case for the innovation centre has been progressed by Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland (DMBinS), a partnership project hosted in Scottish Cycling, Edinburgh Napier University (ENU), Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Borders Council.

Together they have been consulting and working with local businesses, national agencies and international bike brands to develop the proposals

Ed Shoote, regional mountain bike co-ordinator with Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland said: "The Tweed Valley is already home to some of the best mountain bike riding in the UK and every year its reputation grows.

"We believe this proposal promotes the area to become the European capital of mountain biking.

"Following the previous community meeting the message was clear that Innerleithen had fantastic potential to offer a wider range of trails to compliment Glentress – from jump trails to fun family-orientated bike park trails.

"Whilst the plans are progressing with a good deal of political support, we need to ensure the local community is on board with the ideas and will support the proposals.”

The innovation centre will contain facilities that companies have requested, including cutting-edge prototyping equipment.

The centre, which will form part of a wider community hub, will include additional space for childcare, indoor activities like a climbing wall, additional café space for local businesses to grow into and flexible short-term office space.

Lead academic from the Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland, Professor Geraint Florida-James added: "Crucially, the plans not only promote growth in tourism but maximise the impact of the sport for the local community and businesses by creating new jobs and specialist facilities.

"It builds on the success of Edinburgh Napier University’s Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland project at Glentress, which to date, has engaged with over 200 businesses.”

The public consultation will be held on January 24 at 7pm in the Innerleithen Memorial Hall.

During the evening, Select Contracts, leading consultants in the leisure and adventure industry based in Whistler, Canada, and award winning Scottish architects, Oberlanders, will present and capture the community's views on the bike park, whilst innovation experts, Urban Foresight, will be consulting on the innovation centre.

Select Contracts CEO, Chris Sutton added: “We were extremely pleased to be appointed as consultants for this downhill bike park project.

"We see Innerleithen as one of the best locations for a bike park in the UK and Europe.

"We are looking forward to sharing our work on this project to-date and getting local community feedback.”

The feedback from the consultation meeting will contribute towards a full business case, which will be used to help progress the funding application process.