Consultants advise closing libraries and swimming pools - and axing 50 jobs - in this Scottish area

A string of libraries, swimming pools and culture centres across the Scottish Borders could close after recommendations to cut costs were made by consultants.

Integratis Consulting were drafted in by the Scottish Borders Council (SBC) to examine the future of the charity Live Borders, which runs certain facilities on the council's behalf. The aim was to look at the sustainability of its operations.

The proposals which, if carried through, could see more than 50 full-time jobs lost and dozens of different sites close.

Join Katharine Hay on her walk around Scotland, with the Hay’s Way newsletter

Hawick library is one the list of potential closures | Katharine Hay

SBC confirmed no decisions have been made on the recommendations received, which will be discussed further on Thursday.

Among the facilities earmarked for closure include Selkirk Swimming Pool and the Queen's Leisure Centre and Tri Fitness gym in Galashiels. Jedburgh’s Laidlaw Pool, which has been closed due to financial costs, has been recommended by the report to remain shut.

Suggestions have also been made to close the libraries in Eyemouth, Coldstream, Earlston and Hawick or to merge them with other services.

Selkirk is one of the Borders towns that could be impacted by the proposed closure of leisure facilities, including the recommendation to close the town's swimming pool | Katharine Hay

Old Gala House, Abbey Row Centre in Kelso and Sir Walter Scott's Courtroom in Selkirk are also on the closure list. The bowling hall at Tweedbank and sports hall at the Gytes in Peebles are proposed to be turned into fitness gyms.

The consultants’ advice comes as the council unveiled plans to mothball seven nursery schools in the coming year due to declining numbers, in a bid to save around £400,000.

Council leader Euan Jardine said “robust and transparent engagement” would happen with stakeholders and communities before councillors considered any specific recommendations.

Cllr Jardine said: “The financial challenges being faced by Live Borders and the options we now need to look at are coming to the fore right across the country. We have been pro-active in getting consultants to take an objective and independent view of potential solutions, and now we need to open up discussions with our communities before any decisions are made.”

The Live Borders Trust, established in 2003, said, as with many other trusts across the country, it had experienced “unprecedented challenges” over the past five years. These include the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent slow recovery, increased utility costs and changes in customer usage trends.