Students’ tower block gets go-ahead
Residents of a retirement village in Galashiels have failed in their bid to have a five-storey tower block of student accommodation, which will be built just 30 metres from their front doors, re-sited.
On Monday, Scottish Borders Council’s planning committee voted to approve a multi-million pound proposal for new halls of residence to serve Heriot-Watt University’s campus at Netherdale.
The buildings, described by Councillor Nicholas Watson as “austere and oppressive”, will replace existing accommodation which has stood on the south side of Tweed Road for the past four decades and was constructed to provide homes for 218 students at the former Scottish College of Textiles …