Could Center Parcs boost the case for extending the Borders Railway?
Region reacts to leisure operator's vision for £400m holiday village near Hawick...
Last updated 8th Nov 2024
It would be the biggest single investment in the Scottish Borders since the re-opening of the train line between Edinburgh and Tweedbank.
But could Center Parcs vision for a new holiday village just north of Hawick, at a cost of up to £400 million, boost the case for completing the line to Carlisle?
The UK government has yet to confirm whether it will honour a pledge to fund a study into the feasibility of an extension.
But, with the proposed 700-lodge development expected to attract an additional 250,000 visitors to the area every year, supporters of the Campaign for Borders Rail are in no doubt.
"It can't do it any harm," according to Professor Russel Griggs, who chairs South of Scotland Enterprise. "It will be a game-changer for the whole of our hospitality and tourism sector in the south of Scotland, and the big challenge for us all now is to make sure we get the maximum economic benefit."
According to Center Parcs CEO Colin McKinlay, the attraction being proposed would include "roughly" 14 bars and restaurants, as well as a range of leisure facilities, including an indoor swimming pool and spa.
In addition to creating 1200 permanent, full-time jobs, it's anticipated it would generate around £27million spend in the local economy annually, and the leisure operator has a track record stretching back over three decades of using local suppliers.
Prof Griggs said: They want to know where they will get their eggs and their bread, and indeed where their water supply is going to come from; we have been already helping them to do that, and we will carry on. We'll be working with them, with (Borders) College, to look at how we encourage more young people to come in, because this is about providing people with a career; these guys are going to be here forever."
Center Parcs unveiled its vision at a special briefing for local community and business leaders at Hawick Rugby Club on Tuesday.
The leisure operator revealed the Borders was chosen from more than 100 possible locations for the company's first Scottish site.
Local authority leader Euan Jardine said: "This is a phenomenal announcement for the Scottish Borders. It shows that we are open for business; it opens up the tourism; it opens up this real opportunity for us, for the towns and surrounding area.
"It's one of the greatest things to happen in the Borders in a long, long time, and gives us that real economic case for the extension of the Borders Railway."
Most of the meeting, if not all, were on board with the project - pointing out it will have far-reaching benefits, and give local businesses a boost.
"It's incredible news," Councillor Watson McAteer - Borders Council's convener - said. "We've been fighting for long enough to get Hawick and the Borders on the map. We always talk about people travelling through the area, now we've got a reason for people to stop.
"It will lighten the place up, and make people a lot happier than they've been. It's the future. We've talked about tourism being the opportunity for the Borders, well here it is."
And Selkirkshire Councillor Caroline Cochrane added: "It's just the best news ever, it's like an early Christmas present."
READ MORE: Completing the railway from Tweedbank to Carlisle could unlock Borderlands 'stifled' potential
Hawick and Denholm councillor Stuart Marshall says the town must prepare for an influx of visitors - if proposals for the new holiday park development are given the go-ahead.
He said: "People are going to be visiting Hawick in even greater numbers and I think we need to look at all the infrastructure around that - in particular, get our public conveniences open again; and get people moving about the town and spending money."
Speaking of money, retired rail engineer turned journalist David Shirres, a guest speaker at the Campaign for Borders Rail's recent AGM, estimates the cost of rebuilding the line between Tweedbank and Carlisle would now be in the region of £1.5 BILLION.
He spent a weekend as a student travelling on the last trains on the former Waverley Route and was also on one of the first trains on the new line.
"There may be a traditional type case from Hawick," Mr Shirres told Greatest Hits Radio. "I would say, if you're going to open the full railway from Carlisle, you need some sort of strategic case - maybe as a diversionary route, or to allow freight off the West Coast Main Line to Edinburgh.
"It's very challenging that, because the population's not that great south of Hawick, and it's 56 miles of railway, so that's a long way.
"And you have the issue as well, if you are having say two trains an hour, how do you fit that on the West Coast Main Line? "
But he added: "That's something to be considered by the feasibility report."
There was no mention of money for a study into the feasibility of extending the Borders Railway in Labour's autumn budget.
But campaigners say they're not giving up.
Marion Short, chair of the Campaign for Borders Rail, said: "We've been at this a long time and we're not going away.
"We're going to keep pushing for the feasibility study in the first instance, which hopefully will lead to a bigger and better decision to actually start building the completion of the railway."
Representatives from Center Parcs are set to discuss their vision for a new holiday village near Hawick at the town's Community Council meeting on Monday.
The event gets underway in the Lesser Town Hall at 6.30pm.
Hawick's Honorary Provost, Clair Ramage, is welcoming the proposed investment. She said: "This is really positive for our town, and the potential for our tourist industry as a whole. The impact that this will have on our area - jobs and revitalising our town - is something to be celebrated. I can't keep the smile off my face, it's just brilliant news."
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