EDINBURGH housing developer Whiteburn outlined its plans for 75 new homes to be built on the former March Street Mill site at a public consultation.

People queued at Eastgate’s studio from 4pm on Thursday, February 9, to hear about the plans from the Whiteburn team and its architects, Smith Scott Mullan Associates.

Members of staff, alongside displays of the proposed development, which includes 19 Eildon Housing affordable homes, answered questions and there were feedback forms to complete.

Eve McCurrich, Whiteburn’s managing director, said: “We are delighted to have launched our public consultation period for March Street in Peebles with a very well-attended event at the Eastgate Theatre, which attracted around 100 people in the first hour and more than 170 attendees in total.

“We are in the process of reviewing the feedback questionnaires that were completed and submitted by more than 50 people at the event, as well as other comments that we have received via our website during the first consultation period.

“This important feedback will now be considered to inform and shape our proposals as our design aspiration for March Street in Peebles evolves.”

March Street Mill, which dates back to 1884, stopped production in 2015 following a period of sustained losses.

Whiteburn Projects, which won the 2022 Place Making Award from Scottish Borders Council for its Innerleithen Caerlee Mill development, purchased the mill site from Moorbrook Textiles Limited last year.

A key question for the community has been to ensure the Rosetta Road allotments are retained and Whiteburn is committed to integrating them into its design.

Ms McCurrich added: “As part of our overall vision for this development, it is important to us that we understand /and consider the views of as many members of the local community as possible, and we would like to thank everyone for taking the time to visit our event.

“We are genuinely pleased by the encouraging reaction that we received from local people who were supportive of our designs and our proposal to retain the existing allotments and provide new green space within the development.

“With local people also keen to register their interest to buy a property, it’s clear to us there is a real demand for new housing in Peebles.”

The proposed scheme includes two, three and four bedroom homes within two and three storey houses and flats and all will have solar panels on the roof.

There are four points of access to the site, from March Street to the south, Rosetta Road via the allotments to the west, Ballantyne Place to the north and Dovecot Road to the east.

It is intended that the access from Rosetta Road, through the allotments will be for pedestrians only.

Whiteburn says its focus is placemaking and ensuring that its developments contribute to neighbourhoods and integrate in local communities. At Caerlee Mill, 65 per cent of purchasers were from EH44.

Ms McCurrich said: “The local community will have the opportunity to see how our designs have progressed when we return to the Eastgate Theatre on March 23 from 4pm to 7pm for our second consultation event, where we hope to see as many people as possible to provide us with further comments and feedback.”

March Street Mill Allotments Association was asked for a comment.