PLANS for a hot food van in an Earlston layby have been approved, despite objections from the owner of some neighbouring horses and ponies.

Businessman John Sclater wants to open up a hot food and snacks trailer on at a layby around 150m south of Earlston, but the owner of the horses in the adjacent field has objected, citing concerns over her animals eating disused burger rolls and rubbish that could be generated by the stall.

Alison Langford, the owner of the horses, writes in her objection: “I am one of three horse livery owners in fields that sit on this layby. My entrance gate, which hosts trailers, is bang on the layby where said catering van is asking to go.

“People sitting in the layby already feed the horses rubbish, I have one pony already getting treated by the vet, the last thing we need is burgers and rolls left around the field.

“I hope this van will be kept well away from the fields as we have young kids on horses in that have to ride along that layby, and this van and its generator could scare a pony and cause an accident.

“Why is the next layby up not used? It would be a better idea, with no horses or gates to worry about.”

A hearing was held by Scottish Borders Council’s civic government licensing committee, which met on Friday September 20 to deliberate on the proposals. 

Appearing before the committee, Mr Sclater said: “On the objections, I hope that I can allay some of the worries there. 

“With regards to noise, I’ve supplied the decibel output of the generator, which is pretty low. I can’t see how that would be a problem for horses, as it’s far below the sound of cars going past, and definitely lower than tractors and lorries.

“Regarding the feeding of the horses, I wonder if there’s been a problem in the past with the person who put in the objection, but if there’s been a problem in the past it’s not been caused by litter from trade like this. 

“This is the only layby not serviced by a bin, and there is a lot of litter on the site. If I’m granted permission to trade there, the litter will be my problem, as I’ve agreed with Transport Scotland that I will clear up at the end of each day.

“I’ve been brought up around horses, I’ve taken part in common ridings my whole life. I respect horses and there’s no way I would see harm allowed to be done to them by others.

“I went by at night, seen that lorries stop there at night, and I’ve seen no-one blocking the gate.”

Also appearing before the committee, Ms Langford repeated her objection to the application. 

She told councillors: “I’ve horses on the layby, but they’re mini horses, they’re about 24 inches, just tiny little things. 

“It’s actually toddlers that use them, so they’re used during school hours. 

“Something that’s not been mentioned is that this is an accident black spot. From the camera going into Earlston up the 30mph signs, there have been a number of accidents. 

“The national speed limit starts before the corner and they zoom past that layby something bad. 

“Also, my gate for the field is bang on coming into the layby, coming from Earlston. It’s a danger at the moment as cars zoom into the layby. 

“We have to bring the wee ones out of that gate, because we have entry to the arena nearby, we have to go along to the next layby to get in. 

“I know you’ve tried hard with the generator, but with wee ponies the slightest thing will make them jump.”

Councillors also heard that neither Police Scotland nor the council’s licensing officers were opposed to the plans, and that Transport Scotland has agreed to grant permission to Mr Sclater.

Tweeddale East councillor Robin Tatler asked Mr Sclater whether he would be prepared to erect signage which would warn customers to not feed the horses or block the gate, which the applicant agreed to. 

Despite the concerns of Ms Langford, councillors were in broad agreement that the licence should be granted, and voted unanimously to approve the proposals. 

Selkirk councillor Elaine Thornton-Nichol said: “Transport Scotland has approved, planning permission has been granted, the gentleman has deliberately bought low decibel equipment, he’s going to be responsible for the rubbish which probably means there’ll be more cleaning up than currently happens. 

“There’s all sorts of positives, in my opinion, coming from what he is saying, and so I’d personally propose that this is granted because I cannot see how we cannot.”

Jedburgh councillor Jim Brown added: “I think the best way forward here is for both of you to get a good rapport going, work together, look out for each others interests, and move forward with this.”