The very real impact of Center Parcs’ giant Scottish development |
Center Parcs' plans for its first holiday village in Scotland have been very much in focus this week.
Business Editor Ian McConnell assesses the very real impact of this huge development.
It is more than 13 months since I spoke to Center Parcs’ chief executive about the UK and Irish holiday village group’s big plans for the Borders, on the day these were announced.
Colin McKinlay revealed then that Center Parcs looked at more than 100 possible locations around the UK for its seventh complex, before choosing the spot on which it will build its first Scottish holiday village.
The site selected is around three miles north of Hawick and 55 miles south of Edinburgh.
And Center Parcs plans to build a holiday village with about 700 lodges, catering for around 3,500 guests at any one time.
These plans were this week approved unanimously by Scottish Borders Council’s planning and building standards committee.
This represents another key milestone for the project.
One thing which has been striking in conversations with people living and working in the Borders since I interviewed Mr McKinlay about Center Parcs’ plans is the widespread enthusiasm about the year-round jobs that such a huge holiday village will bring.
So much employment in the tourism sector in the Borders, and other rural parts of Scotland, is seasonal.
That is not to say such jobs are not valuable.
However, year-round employment is........