New £56.6m high school approved for Hawick

Councillors have approved plans for a new £56.6m Hawick High School.

Scottish Borders Council (SBC) has proposed a four-storey building on the western side of the existing school, which would be demolished in phases.

The local authority had planned to knock down the school’s older, stone-built central building.

But some councillors, along with the local community council, objected to this part of the project and SBC has agreed to reconsider its demolition.

Jane Cox,  Conservative councillor for Hawick and Hermitage, said a new high school had been needed for a “long time”.

She added: “I think it is going to look absolutely fantastic and it’s just what Hawick has needed and the fact that some of the old school is being retained I approve of that as well.”

Aileen Orr, SNP councillor for East Berwickshire, said she would be saddened to see the loss of parts of the old site, but added that she expected a new school to have a beneficial effect on staff and pupils.

Committee chairman Marshall Douglas said the new school was “absolutely essential” for the future of education in Hawick.

Reporting by local democracy journalist Paul Kelly.