Canonbie residents invited to have their say on new housing development proposals

1st May 2009

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A public engagement event concerning a proposed high quality housing development to the north of Canonbie village took place at the Cross Keys Hotel in Canonbie this Tuesday afternoon, the 28th April.

The development is being proposed by Queensberry Properties Limited, a partnership between one of Scotland’s leading house builders, Cruden Homes (East), and one of the country’s most established land and property experts, Buccleuch Property.

Comprising up to 85 houses of 2, 3 and 4 bedrooms, to be built in a number of phases, it is anticipated that the development will help to sustain the local school, pub and post office and will be designed to meet considerable local requirements for housing, particularly for families. It will also help to resolve long-standing local flooding issues at Canonbie by re-routing the Blethering Syke watercourse through the site, with outflow to the River Esk.

With a view to making reduced energy use a key component of the development, the internal layout of the houses and their orientation and layout within the site have been developed with a view to make maximum use of solar energy and available daylight.

Part of a much wider community engagement exercise currently being undertaken by Queensberry Properties, this week’s event was extremely well attended, with more than 80 members of the local community visiting the exhibition in the course of the afternoon.

Those attending had an opportunity to view outline plans of the proposed development and to discuss all aspects of the proposal with the project team.

Commenting on behalf of Queensberry Properties, Nick Waugh, Commercial Property Director at Buccleuch, said:

"The event was highly successful, attracting over 80 people from the local community. We were delighted to hear all views as part of the thorough community engagement exercise we are currently undertaking for this project.

"In general, the feedback from those attending was very positive about the benefits the development could potentially bring to Canonbie village, including support for the local school, post office and hotel.

"There were a number of specific points raised in the course of the afternoon, which we will be examining closely and discussing with the Council as part of the planning application process. Our plan is to submit a full planning application in the summer."