New homes planned as developer acquires Gattonside House

Fortis Homes will now seek to engage with the local community for feedback on the development proposal before submitting an initial planning application in the new year.

Over the coming weeks, initial activity will take place to ensure the site is safe and secure, such as the replacement of security measures and essential maintenance of woodland. In addition, Fortis Homes will begin the removal of the tent structure over Gattonside House, which currently risks further deterioration to the building without immediate intervention. This activity will be conducted following independent professional advice from a number of specialists.

Fortis Homes will look to host two public consultation events, with the first expected to take place in late November. All addresses within Gattonside village will receive details of these in due course via a letter drop, alongside direct invitations to key stakeholders.

Doug Innes, managing director at Fortis Homes, said: “We take our role as a responsible developer incredibly seriously, with our core objective to retain and restore Gattonside House, and bring the site forward for the benefit of the community, which has suffered drastically over the past 15 years.

“We understand the significance of Gattonside House, and will do all we can to create a successful outcome and provide the best opportunity for saving this building, which is now structurally unsafe and in a perilous state.

“The public consultations will provide an opportunity for the community and stakeholders to provide comments and ideas that can be factored into our future planning application. Whilst there is an existing live application in place, our new application will aim to preserve more of the estate’s naturalised environment, halt the deterioration of this part of the village and importantly, provide valuable new housing for the private and affordable sectors.

“We look forward to working collaboratively with the community and Scottish Borders Council to agree a financially viable proposal, and create a new way forward for this historic site.”