Scottish Borders Council (SBC) has today confirmed the new £5millon Galashiels Transport Interchange building, planned to be delivered in the town's Stirling Street for the opening of the Borders Railway in 2014, will be an entirely new and modern building.

SBC had eighteen months of negotiations with Tesco to explore the opportunities of incorporating the façade of the former textile college into the proposed transport interchange building.

The façade was taken down and stored by Tesco following the demolition of the college as part of Tesco’s supermarket development on Green Street in 2006. The former Chief Executive of Tesco Sir Terry Leahy had promised the people of Galashiels that the façade would be rebuilt in another part of the town following the development of the supermarket.

The Transport Interchange will provide integrated connections between all forms of transport (train, bus, taxi, car drop-off, cycling and walking) and the new building will provide a safer, cleaner and more comfortable environment for transport users. The building will also incorporate new business space for small to medium enterprises to help encourage the vitality and viability of the town centre and the regeneration of Stirling Street.

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At a public exhibition held in the Volunteer Hall during November 2010 SBC displayed two potential building designs, one of which incorporated the former textile college façade. Those who attended the exhibition indicated support for incorporating the façade into the building if that could be achieved. However they also indicated that the incorporation of the façade should be fully funded by Tesco.

Following negotiations between SBC and Tesco over the past eighteen months Tesco is unable to provide the façade and sufficient funding to allow its incorporation into the transport interchange building.

In order to ensure the transport interchange is built in time to meet the opening of the Borders Railway, the Council is now in the process of proceeding with an alternative design for the building.

David Parker, Leader of SBC, said: “We regret the decision of Tesco not to proceed with the delivery of the former textile college façade as part of the transport interchange. At the public consultation event many local people who attended told us that they were in favour of this proposal. Now that Tesco has declined our offer regarding incorporating the façade into the new building, the Council will revert to an alternative modern design.

“SBC was happy to seriously consider the incorporation of the façade into this new iconic building and our only concern was to ensure Tesco provided sufficient funding for this to happen without the council tax payer having to pay. Unfortunately Tesco’s financial offer falls well short of the funding required to allow the façade to be used.

“Now that Tesco has made its decision, it is vitally important that we revert to an alternative design to ensure that we have a suitable interchange building in place before the reintroduction of the Borders Railway to the central Borders.”

(GK)