SIR, You reported in two articles on February 20 (Tory Councillors fail in bid to unpack tapestry decision and Council AIMUp) that one of the community councillors against the proposal to invest in a permanent site for the Great Tapestry of Scotland is Brian McCrow.

Mr McCrow is also, according to your reports, secretary of AIMUp, the initiative intended to develop a thriving outdoor sports community in Innerleithen.

Like council leader David Parker, I agree that both projects have exciting potential. Having seen the Great Tapestry (and, later, the Prestonpans Tapestry) at New Lanark, I am delighted to think that it might find a permanent home in the Borders.

That those who support the Great Tapestry project also recognise the strength of the case made for the outdoor sports project is evident in what Councillor Parker is reported as having said about it.

Mr McCrow, however, is treating the whole thing as a zero-sum game. He also appears to be using arguments based on the short-term to oppose the long-term Great Tapestry Project.

While I understand well that people are seriously worried about cuts to public services (which is why I don’t like the continuing ‘cap’ on the council tax), this is no reason to refrain from thinking imaginatively and strategically about the future.

For these reasons, when I saw his petition in our local post office, I was sorely tempted to write on it that I thoroughly disagreed with it. Now that I know that there may be a conflict of interest lurking in Mr McCrow’s actions, I wish I had done so!

I am, etc.

Elizabeth Meehan Main Street West Linton