Make or Break Time for Greenlaw Town Hall

A public meeting was held in Greenlaw on 18th June to feedback findings from a detailed option appraisal considering the future of the historic Town Hall which stands in the Centre of the Village on the Green. The meeting was well attended by local residents keen to hear about the options for ensuring the future of the Grade A listed building, featured as one of three key buildings in Scotland in the BBC’s ‘Restoration’ programme last year.

An extensive survey had been carried out earlier in the year to find out what local people wanted to see happen with the Town Hall. The response rate was above average, and feedback from the surveys formed the basis for the option appraisal carried out by Jura Consultants. The vast majority of respondents were clear that they wanted to see the Town Hall restored as far as possible and kept within the village. Preliminary research into options identified the four most realistic options in terms of the availability of money to restore the building and the feasibility of maintaining the restored building into the future. Those options were; housing; theatre; community use & office space; and office space.

At the Public Meeting, the Town Hall Project Committee and Jura Consultants fed back the news that, due to restrictions in the funding grants available for this scale of project, even the best of the four options (mixed community use & office space) had a substantial gap in the funding required to restore the building and to meet the annual running costs.

The option appraisal was invaluable in providing detailed and well-researched information which clarified the current risk to the historic building in Greenlaw. People attending the meeting were clear that the building is of local importance and that it should not be allowed to become a ruin or face demolition.

However, the option appraisal identified the restrictions of existing funding streams available for restoration and it was clear that the only chance of saving the Town Hall is to raise the level of support for the building both within the village and within the Scottish Borders as a whole.

It's make or break time for Greenlaw Town Hall and without the support of local people the future of this Grade A listed building looks bleak. Please help us to save an important part of local heritage, so that it is not lost to future generations forever.