There are high hopes that a crunch meeting on Friday (November 1) will kick start work on a prominent Peebles site.
Tweeddale MP David Mundell has organised a meeting of all local Scottish Borders councillors, community councillors and the current site owners, the Royal Bank of Scotland, to get plans to develop Veitch’s Corner back on track.
Mr Mundell believes that local politicians and the community must work together to tackle the prominent site which continues to be an eyesore for visitor and locals. He has welcomed the willingness of all Peebles Councilors’ and the Community Council to work together and believes a joint approach may make all the difference at the meeting.
The building, which sits on the corner of the High Street, has been vacant for several years, and Peebles Community Council and a number of local politicians have been particularly vocal in calling for the building to be reoccupied and restored to its former glory.
Over the past year a number of solutions and proposals have been brought forward without success and Mr Mundell is keen to get some traction behind this latest attempt to resolve the situation.
Commenting the local MP said: “Like a number of local residents I am tired and frustrated by the lack of action on Veitch's but I really welcome the shared commitment all Peebles Councillors and the Community Council have shown. I am hoping that between myself, Peebles Community Council and local SBC Councillors we will be able to work together and use our combined influence to get the building occupied and this meeting with the current owners RBS will allow us to get some answers and an update on what is happening. In the run up to Christmas when the rest of the retailers in the town are doing everything they can to boost sales and encourage visitors it is a real shame that Veitch’s is still lying dormant.”
Mr Mundell added: “The Royal Bank of Scotland currently have a big say in what happens to the building and it is really important that we work with them to find a viable future for the site. This meeting with senior representatives from the bank is a really important opportunity for us to highlight to them the strength of feeling in the local community and amongst other traders. I hope that we will be able to get our point across as a community and ensure that all possible options to get the premise occupied are explored.”