Peeblesshire News | News | Fight to save filling station

Friday, 25th July, 2008

Published: Friday, 16th May, 2008 12:00

Fight to save filling station

By David Knox

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A FORECOURT fight is looming after developers revealed they want to close down a Peebles petrol station.

Plans to turn the town’s most prominent pumps into a mini retail park have been unveiled.

The shock move to close the Innerleithen Road filling station has been met with anger.

And the town’s Community Council has vowed to fight the plans.

Retailers such as Marks and Spencer are already being linked with the proposed development.

Representatives from developers Duddingston House Properties and their architects Smith, Scott, Mullan Associates gave a brief presentation to local community leaders last week.

Muhesh Suran from Duddingston House Properties told the Peeblesshire News: “It is all at a very early stage and we thought we should get some input from the local community.

“We are looking at the possibility of a small convenience store unit for the site with additional parking.

“We are currently talking to Scottish Borders Council about the size of the building and the amount of car parking.”

Initial plans for the site adjacent to the A72 roundabout would flatten the petrol station and replace it with mini edge-of-town retail units.

Traffic would enter the retail park from Innerleithen Road and exit onto Edinburgh Road.

Closures to petrol stations in recent years at West Linton and Innerleithen have left the whole of Peeblesshire with only two sets of pumps.

And if the Innerleithen Road forecourt was to close, David Harrison’s garage on Edinburgh Road would be the area’s last remaining filling station.

Ian Wilson, chairman of Peebles Community Council, told us: “We are extremely worried about losing the filling station. It is the only petrol station on the main A72 between Galashiels and Lanarkshire.

“We hope that the people of Peebles get behind us to make sure this doesn’t happen.”

But the petrol station business is believed to be struggling with the inflated cost of fuel duty and rising rent.

And one local councillor believes the retail unit wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

Tweeddale East member Bill Herd said: “If the filling station isn’t making money you can’t expect it to continue.

“If we are seriously looking at regenerating our town centers we’ve got to look at these type of developments coming in.”

No planning application has yet been submitted for the site.

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