50 new homes for rent being lined up for Newtown

Scottish Borders Council has received a pre-application to build 50 affordable homes for rent on land at Sergeants Park, together with roads, footpaths, a drainage system and open spaces.

The proposal has been put forward by Selkirk-based Eildon Housing Association, currently in the process of completing a similar £5m affordable housing project also at Sergeants Park.

A community engagement event in the form of a drop-in session is to be staged later this month to enable villagers to learn more about the proposed development.

It is to be held at the Newtown Community Wing, in Sprouston Road, between 5pm and 8pm on Wednesday, January 24.

Representatives of the housing association will be on hand to answer questions from members of the public.

The move is a further phase in the development of the site as an ongoing joint venture with Queensberry Properties already seeing 49 houses and four flats being built on a 1.74-hectare site between the village football pitch and Glenburnie Valley.

That development is made up of rentable properties, with Eildon Housing Association acting as landlord for the 49 houses and Bridge Homes overseeing the four apartments.

A spokesman for Galashiels-based Aitken Turnbull Architects said: “This latest pre-application is part of the consultation process, and after 12 weeks we can submit a planning application.

“The proposal is for around 50 units, although the exact number will be part of the public consultation, where issues of design and development can be raised.

“It’s a further phase of the existing development at Sergeants Park, and it is of a similar scale, with two and three-bedroom homes and flats.”