CALLS have been made for an independent traffic survey on a busy road at the centre of contentious housing plans.

Two controversial applications have been lodged – to build two blocks of flats at Tweedbridge Court and 71 houses on land at South Parks, both in Peebles.

It is feared both will cause an increase in traffic along Caledonian Road.

Two emergency services are based on the road and locals, who claim it is already a bottleneck, have carried out their own traffic survey.

Convenor of the planning sub-committee on Peebles Community Council, Les Turnbull said: “There has been a lot of evidence produced to show that there are serious problems and concerns with traffic along Caledonian Road.

“Planning officers don’t seem to have taken the evidence presented to them very seriously.

“I would have expected the road planning officer to have produced something that was objective, looking at the evidence provided by the objectors, the report by the developers, and coming to an objective conclusion.”

Mr Turnbull asked elected Scottish Borders councillors to investigate the possibility of an independent traffic survey being carried out.

Tweeddale councillors Robin Tatler (Ind) and Shona Haslam (Cons), said they recently met with officers from the council’s legal and planning department regarding the legality of the traffic study that had already been done.

Councillor Haslam said she also raised the fact that, while officers had looked at the junction of Tweed Bridge, they hadn’t considered the Frankscroft, Edderston Road and Dukehaugh junctions.

Community council chairman Lawrie Hayworth, said that in light of the two proposed developments at South Parks and Tweedbridge Court, and significant plans for further development in South Parks, officers needed to commission a traffic assessment with solid data.