FIVE Melrose hotels have lodged an official objection to a proposed multi-million-pound development in nearby Tweedbank.

The planned development, which would include a petrol filling station, drive thru Costa coffee shop and a 70-bedroom Premier Inn hotel, is being proposed by Edinburgh-based Newland Assets.

A revised application is currently at the consultation stage after developers dropped plans to include a supermarket in the face of opposition from local retailers and councillors.

However, a joint letter of objection on behalf of Burts Hotel, The Townhouse Hotel, George and Abbotsford Hotel, King's Arms Hotel and Station Hotel has been lodged with the council planning department.

The objection has been lodged by Felsham PD, an Edinburgh planning and development consultancy firm operating on behalf of the hotels.

The objection, accredited to Philip Neavues of Felsham PD, states: “We are instructed to submit an objection to the above application on the grounds of: Landscaping and protection of trees; Impact on Eildons; Undermining town centre vitality and viability by putting local businesses under threat; Unsustainable travel patterns and the need to drive to Melrose for evening entertainment.

“I suggest that the proposals amount to overdevelopment of the site and this has required the removal of the majority of the screening woodland.

“The requirement for car parking exacerbates the requirement for woodland removal as does the assumed desire for visibility from the surrounding road network.

“The scale of the hotel- with a roof height of more than 15m - is likely to dominate the immediate area, with only a small number of trees retained to reduce the visual impact and with not much more than a dozen trees, beech hedge and some ground cover planting proposed.

“It is also necessary to consider how Scotland's high streets are changing and how they will change in the future.

“Melrose is an important centre.

“It serves the needs and wants of the diverse resident, working and tourist populations.

“The result of these characteristics is that the café culture has developed which means that the characteristics of Melrose are recognised to be unique to those of other centres in the retail hierarch

“The vitality and viability of Melrose depends on wider considerations than retail.

“Melrose sets a standard of how town centres should develop, and we would urge your Council not to grant consent for a development that could undermine the vitality and viability of the town centre by having a significant impact on the hotel sector.”

A further objection has also been lodged by Melrose Community Council, who argue: “We in Melrose still need to support what is one of the few still strong vibrant High Streets in the Borders.

“At present we have five hotels and numerous guest houses, bed and breakfast facilities which all fight for a share of an uncertain market.

“Most of our High Street shops are occupied and open for business.

"It is easier to retain a High Street environment than try to regenerate a High Street environment as SBC are finding throughout the Borders with fringe developments sucking the life out of high streets.

“There is also a feeling that a four-storey hotel is far too high for this location in Tweedbank as there is nothing else this height within the surrounding area."