ANGRY protestors and holiday park developers are set to come face to face at a public meeting next week.

Ambitious proposals to create 100 holiday lodges, 10 tree lodges, 10 cabins/pods and 30 glamping pods on land to the east of West Linton were unveiled last month.

The plans – on a much larger scale – were originally submitted to Scottish Borders Council in 2018.

The meeting on Monday (May 15) is scheduled to start at 7pm at West Linton Golf Club and it is expected up to 100 people may attend.

Sandy Lane Resort Rutherford Limited, the developer for the land south and east of Rutherford house, has been allocated a 20-minute slot.

Opposition group Community Against Rutherford (CAR) will also have a 20-minute allocation before the debate is thrown open to the floor.

At West Linton Community Council’s meeting last Monday, CAR protestor Kate Whalley said: “It is a large development on our doorstep, is three times the size of Carlops and may have incremental increases in size in the future.

“We want as many people through the door as possible.

“We cannot sit here apathetically allowing the development.”

Next week’s meeting will be jointly held by West Linton and Carlops community councils as both areas are affected by the proposals.

Consultees to the planning application are already giving their responses. When the original application was made, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) objected on three grounds – waste water drainage, water supply and flood risk.

SEPA has withdrawn its objection to waste water drainage and water supply and placed a holding objection on flood risk, pending further information.

Objections over the volume of traffic in West Linton that might be generated and queuing on the A702, causing increased CO2 due to idling engines have been raised. The WLCC meeting heard that the scheme may be considered by Scottish Borders Council in early July and members agreed to decide on their stance when they meet on Monday, June 12.

Rutherford Castle Golf Course, set in 150 acres of parkland, opened in May 1998. It closed in 2013 when membership dropped to 56.