Hawick business park set for a £250k shot in the arm

Members of Scottish Borders Council’s executive committee will be asked to endorse the offer of a £250,000 payment from South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) to bolster Galalaw Industrial Estate, to the north of Hawick when they meet via videolink on Tuesday, March 16.

During 2020, council officers consulted with counterparts within the enterprise agency to look at ways of promoting business expansion at the site and have come up with a plan to improve road infrastructure to enable future development.

The business park opened in April 2019, with the support of a £3.6m grant from Scottish government.

And although both retail and industrial services are now operating on the estate there are still parts of the land that remain undeveloped.

One of the plans is to create an access road to join the existing main Galalaw access road.

The new road would rise up to the north to allow development plots to be developed in a variety of shapes and sites dictated by business and industrial demand.

If the grant is endorsed at next week’s meeting the plan is to start work on the new road immediately.

A report to the committee adds “The works would be completed during the summer period of 2021 allowing for the formation of the first development plots to commence.”

There will be no funding required from the council.