Social housing plans for Selkirk

A £1 million plan to demolish a Selkirk building and replace it with social housing has been unveiled.The building at the junction of High Street and Chapel Street, known locally as Poets Corner, has fallen into a state of disrepair over the past decade.And the former Cooperative was placed on the Buildings at Risk Register back in 2009.Owners Lindsay & Gilmour Pharmacy acquired the building in 2003 with a view to relocating so it was nearer to the town’s health centre.But the move was later shelved.The company now hope to bring a social landlord onboard to create ten rentable flats.Planning permission was granted eight years ago for a similar development of eight flats – but a downturn in the property market prevented the project going ahead.A recent offer of £60,000 from the Selkirk Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme was made to repair the building, but surveyors believed it was beyond saving.They estimated the cost of repairing and developing the current building at £938,006 with the anticipated value on completion at only £620,000.The ten-flat development is estimated to cost around £1.1million.