A BID for a luxury holiday let on the site of a former quarry near a Borders town has been refused over concerns it would create an “undesirable precedent" for the entire region's countryside.

Peter and Vicki Hedley sought planning approval from Scottish Borders Council to build the property at Townfoot Hill, on land north west of Cunzierton House at Oxnam.

A supporting statement, submitted by Selkirk-based Stuart Davidson Architecture, said the aim was to provide a luxury holiday let “set within a former stone quarry designed to blend into the existing natural surroundings, offering a different and importantly private experience without making an impact on the surrounding area”.

The applicants run Swinside Townfoot Farm and the proposed development would be “nestled just below the ridge line in an existing sheep grazing field”.

A separate study, submitted on behalf of the applicants by Selkirk’s Bright Light Marketing, added: “Vicki Hedley has successfully operated a catering business from the farm but would now like to be more involved with the running of the farm business.

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“To ensure the future success of the business, Vicki has made the decision to cease the catering business.

“Peter and Vicki have identified a location on the farm where they would like to locate a custom-built architectural self-catering property. The site in question is on a hill above the farm with panoramic 360-degree views looking south to England and the Cheviots and also north towards the Scottish Borders.

“They are keen to use green building techniques, technology and practices to make it as environmentally responsible as possible.”

In his report refusing the application, Euan Calvert, assistant council planning officer, says go-ahead for the development would create an unwanted precedent.

He says: “The chosen site would appear divorced from the farm complex, located at over one mile away if travelling by an adopted road network.

“This chosen site therefore appears as a chance location, which is arbitrary to any historic pattern of development of the local area. Visually it would read as a chance encounter to develop a borrow-pit on a prominent site, not on the edge of but central to a permanent grass enclosure.  This case would set an undesirable precedent for the entire Borders countryside”.