A COMMUNITY council chairman this week branded Scottish Enterprise Borders "an abject failure since day one".
The charge was delivered by Selkirk's Kenneth Gunn as he accused the enterprise company, which has an £8M annual budget, of reneging on pro
mises to make his town the industrial hub of the central Borders.
Mr Gunn, who will seek election to Scottish Borders Council in May, said he was appalled the former weaving shed behind SEB's Ettrick Riverside business complex – formerly the Ettrick Mill – is to become the headquarters of the Eildon Housing Association. His community council was asked on Monday night for its views on Eildon's change of use planning bid to convert the two-storey A-listed building for its 80 staff, currently operating at six sites across the Borders.
"This is a massive wasted opportunity," claimed Mr Gunn. "It is an advertisement of the fact that SEB has done nothing to attract new industrial jobs to an area which they have long touted as the industrial hub of the central Borders.
"At a time when assistance from Europe has dried up, this valuable site should surely be part of that strategy, but instead the Eildon move will create no new jobs: it's simply moving men about on a chessboard."
Vice-chairman Dr Lindsay Neil blasted: "It is pretty deplorable that this prime site is not creating a single new job."
When local SBC member Vicky Davidson (Forest) pointed out the area was designated for mixed employment use in the region's new Local Plan, Mr Gunn responded: "Yes exactly. Surely that mix should include job-creating industrial use. But where is the industry?
"There is nothing being manufactured on the whole of Ettrick Riverside which was once hailed by SEB as the jewel in the crown of industrial development in the central Borders. They (SEB] have been an abject failure since day one."
The community council unanimously agreed to object to the Eildon application, on the grounds the weaving shed, which last saw production two decades ago, should be preserved for industrial use.
Nigel Watson, SEB's director of physical infrastracture, hit back at the indictment of his organisation's 15-year record.
"Our investment in the physical infrastructure of Ettrick Riverside and the surrounding areas has sparked a massive regeneration of the Selkirk Riverside area, creating or safeguarding almost 650 jobs, while also spreading major benefits both for the local community and the central Borders as a whole."
He said the Ettrick Riverside centre currently housed 30 companies, safeguarding 140 jobs for the area and contributing an additional £11M to the Borders economy. New businesses had been attracted, including Oregon Timber. Similarly, SEB had renovated and marketed the building which was now home to call centre operators Careline, employing 325 people, and had given financial assistance to a number of smaller firms to relocate and grow in the area.
Mr Watson said the regeneration of Etrrick Riverside, in which £10M had been invested, had been a key part of a strategy to diversify and move away from the traditional reliance on manufacturing.
"By offering mixed-use accommodation, we are able to establish companies which have the biggest potential to grow and contribute to the Borders economy and we are already seeing this in practice."
He said Eildon's plans fitted that philosophy, while bringing another historic building back to life and facilitating the association's current and future expansion plans.
