'Ripping the heart out of our communities': Residents' fury over proposed Scottish Borders closures

Decisions on the proposed changes to the regional towns and villages will be made later this year.

Communities in a rural part of Scotland fear the heart and soul of their towns and villages will be ripped out in the wake of a report recommending a string of closures to heritage and leisure facilities.

Live Borders, a trust that runs services on behalf of Scottish Borders Council, has been advised to close or merge various facilities by consultants drafted in to help cut costs.

The suggested closures include heritage hubs, local swimming pools and libraries.

It comes as seven nurseries across the region are set to shut due to low enrolment numbers.

Selkirk is one of the towns in the Borders that could be impacted by the potential closure of facilities | Katharine Hay

The council stressed the suggested closures across towns including Jedburgh, Galashiels, Selkirk and Hawick would go through further consultations with residents and stakeholders before any decisions are made.

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Cameron Knox, who is chairman of the community council in Hawick, said communities were “up in arms” about the proposals.

“It was totally grim and devastating news for the town,” he said.

“Live Borders has a statutory focus to provide sport, cultural and historical elements in the Borders and they’re ripping the heart out of the local community, and not just Hawick, but Selkirk, Galashiels, Jedburgh and more.

“We know there’s a consultation, that has been rammed down our throats, but we know there’s no smoke without fire.”

Hawick library is either set for closure or potential merging with other services | Katharine Hay

Mr Knox said Live Borders was being nicknamed “Dead Borders” because of the widespread upset.

The proposed closures, which could see permanent jobs lost, come at a time when the trust, which was set up in 2003, is hiring for a new chief executive to “transform the organisation”.

Mr Knox said: “What really sticks in our throats is there are probably 50 jobs going with this proposed reducing buildings and responsibilities, yet they are still advertising for a chief executive for a salary of almost £100,000.

“None of these big wigs guiding the ship are taking the hit. It’s the people at the coalface taking the hit.”

Mr Knox said the proposed closures would see the town miss out on opportunities that could come with the first Centre Parcs proposed for Scotland at a site near Hawick. The leisure park could see up to 700 lodges built and is projected to provide 1,200 jobs, according to VisitScotland.

Mr Knox said: “Tearing out the heart of the community will take opportunities away from encouraging people to the town. With Hawick on the up, this has been a real kick in the teeth.”

The chairman of the Selkirk Community Council said while the consultant’s report looked at attendance and the financial state of leisure facilities, the next few months would be important for seeing the social implications.

“It’s fair enough we need to have bit of a reset,” he said. “The community needs to decide what facilities we want to keep moving forward. Certainly our community would not welcome any closures at all.

“The council is saying the recommendations are not cast in stone and nothing will be decided until we’ve consulted on it fully.”

Rather than just the price and attendance at attractions, which could by unfairly reflected in smaller towns, Mr Murray said the value of places needed to be fully considered.

“The social implications far outweigh the financial,” he said. “There are other ways of looking at how to improve things, looking at what the value of places is to the community.”

A Scottish Borders Council spokesperson said consultations with residents and stakeholders were due to start next month and would run for a number of months.

“Further details will be announced in due course,” the spokesperson said.