Next phase for fish shop plans

Souters could be forgiven for asking what’s happening at the old Tower Street fish shop.

After lying derelict for 22 years, the premises is now in community ownership after it was bought by the Selkirk Regeneration Company.

The charity, run entirely by volunteers, with membership open to anyone in the TD7 postcode area, has been working hard to make the space into something that can be used by the community.

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David Bethune, director and treasurer of the company, told us “The street frontage of the old fish shop has been repaired through the Selkirk conservation area regeneration scheme project and is looking good.

“We managed to get a small grant to strip out all the rotten woodwork and remove rotten roof timbers from the back shop.

“Then, using virtually every last penny of our resources, we have done a temporary redecoration of the front shop, which allowed it to be used as a second pop-up shop in the run-up to Christmas.

“The next stage is to complete the renovation of the whole property, including rebuilding the back shop, to turn it into a fully accessible community resource. Plans have been drawn up, and the cost will be around £76,000.

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“We hope that most of this can be raised from grants, but some will need to come from the community itself, so, to begin raising those funds, some volunteer members are holding a sale of good used items and unwanted presents in the pop-up shop on Friday and Saturday, February 22 and 23.

“There will probably also be some baking and other goodies, so make sure you pop in to see what is for sale.

“If you have items to donate, they can be handed in at 5 Tower Street on Tuesday or Wednesday, February 19 and 20. If you need items collected, call me on 01750 21703.”