£1.2m investment for Coldstream Business Park moves a step closer

Three workshop units are to be built on a site at Coldstream Business Park with the aim of creating nine jobs.

Cllr John Grenwell, Mid-Berwickshire, speaking at a meeting of Scottish Borders Council, said: “At last we’re going to see some activity within that business park. It has been empty since it was built.

“Looking forward I can’t see any reason why this could not be a vibrant business park. The local population has been crying out and have been asking myself and local members when was something was going to happen, why was it sitting there empty, why is it getting overgrown with grass and weeds?

“This is good news and I am looking forward to the next community council and saying, yes, we’re nearly there.”

Fellow Mid-Berwickshire councillor Mark Rowley added: “We absolutely know there is demand there. I won’t mention names but we know there was a significant employer who left the region because they could not find business-ready accommodation of the right scale and the right specification and my in-box has not been quiet over the last couple of years with people looking for business accommodation in Berwickshire. I really welcome this.”

Cllr Donald Moffat, who also represents Mid-Berwickshire, added: “This is long overdue. The last time we had any investment in business premises in Coldstream was back in the 1990s when we had Berwickshire District Council, along with Scottish Borders Regional Council, do a joint project and we got the workshops that were developed then, which have been at full capacity ever since.

“A number of local businesses have tried to get on that site and have not been able to do so for one reason or another and I do think this is welcome and something we need in Coldstream to keep people in jobs.”

Funding for the project is to come through the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal. A full business case will be submitted to the Borderlands Partnership Board for approval at its meeting on September 13.