Galashiels Place Making Workshop

“Pockets of strong community with different interests. And a diversity of people”

Galashiels sits in a landscape of rolling hills. River walks and local landscapes form a ‘green donut’ connecting urban and rural. It is a place of leisure, with more surprises that are first evident.

Ours is a rich history, host to William Ogilvy, Charles Lapworth and Sir Water Scott at Abbotsford. We have unique location traditions, the Braw Lads and Soor Plooms. And sporting excellence. Rugby brings the community together. But we also come together around our rich heritage in textiles. And wool. And waterpower. The Great Tapestry is a great addition to the town.

So, people have a sense of belonging. And family roots. And pride. We are a safe community, really welcoming, and friendly. We have lots of clubs and opportunities for young people, with the Geek Retreat, the Comic Con at the Volunteer Hall, MacDonalds, and things for families.

Gala is also well connected by train, just an hour away from the city. It makes us a strategic location. We are a desirable commuting place, with affordable property, retailing and independent shops.

Our heritage has created varied skills in textiles, technology and culture. We are an education hub, with the high school, Borders College, and a university presence, serving local and international students. There are different opportunities to inspire learning, access part time jobs and impact on a wide reach of people. We are used to adapting to change.

“Motivated communities. And leaderships”

“Some areas are less loved”

Crime is rising. There are high levels of poverty, and deprivation. And, there is drugs and anti social behaviour. It is affecting families. And, we have an ageing population, with pressure on the NHS and social care. Housing rental and buying is beyond reach for many, with an ageing housing stock, and little landlord investment. Funding of the public sector works in pockets. Local structures and national pressures are not joined up. It’s having an economic impact.

A lot of things we need are on the edge. The requirement of a car is significant. There aren’t enough options for active travel, and bus timetabling doesn’t work for evening events in MacArts and others. Poor internet makes it hard to work from rural areas. We need more accessibility.

The impact of online shopping, rates and falling footfall are creating more vacant space. We have an overprovision of retail spaces The retail park at the edge of town was a bit of a mistake. So, we need a better mix in the town centre. But, we are also worried about ‘death by masterplan’.

We are concerned that Gala is a ‘pass through, no stop’ place. There is nothing to make you want to come here, nowhere to stay over. And, we are not making enough of our great local food produce.

Young people feel there is nothing to do. It’s dull. Quiet. Boring. And, there is a lack of stability in relation to employment, with a poor range of jobs. There is a talent drain. Students are commuting. So, we need more opportunities, more pathways, and more jobs for young people.

“Things are not working together”

“An empowered and engaged population, with no poverty”

We want people to be safe, respected, diverse, happy and financially secure, with easily accessible healthcare, and choices, in a vibrant, connected community.

We want to create a place where young people want to come and stay, with better destinations for all young people. So, develop the University Town brand, with integrated learning pathways, and strengthened industry links. Create more business incubator spaces supporting different kinds of business, more links to community facilities, more starter homes and different housing tenures. And, create good quality family housing to attract people. It’s about choices.

Let’s develop Gala as a cultural hub, building on independently funded arts organisations like Hawick Alchemy. Build on the textiles link, and develop town square opportunities linked with the Great Tapestry of Scotland. Curate more festivals and events in a pedestrian friendly, bustling, thriving, balanced town centre. Connect people. And, draw on our creativity for solutions to retail. Strengthen the café culture, and night time economy, with more hotel accommodation, diverse food, and more joined up tourism around our cultural assets. We want more visitors, not day trips.

Make more of local mountain biking. Develop e-sports and adventure play, with climbing facilities, bowling, more leisure options, and more things for young people, like a roller coaster and go karts!. And, develop entertainment infrastructures. Bring big name comedians and musicians to Gala.

Connect the town. And people. Celebrate the Mill Lade, and the river. Develop thematic walks around literature, and history. Encourage people to get out. Build positive mental health, supported by more green spaces, making more of the water as a focal point., and source of green power. Promote Gala as a healthy place to live and work, with more collaboration between groups to make experiences accessible to everyone.

And, develop more active travel choices, better connected, with better signage. Accessibility for all.

“a base for adventure”

We need an umbrella to connect groups, generate interest and shape ideas from the community with some technical support, and local business buy in.

We already have some great skills. Our college students are building excellence in Passivhaus and sustainability technology. Let’s build opportunities for them to use these skills locally. Our creative people have skills in arts facilitation, and design. We have active community activists, established groups and organisations. But we need to connect, and make space for others.

Let’s build capacity in volunteers, and be proactive in building new leaders, engaging young people. And build on our partners, their knowledge and relationships with communities, and experience in crime prevention shaping valuable inputs at the design stages of change.

We would value facilitator help to bring people together, shape ideas, and identify catalysts to unlock local talent and ownership. We need to make sure we capture learning from our work together to support each other. And communicate well, getting messages to the whole community. And, we would like to draw on learning from elsewhere and technical expertise like funding, design, business leadership, ecology and project management to make ideas work.

“Let’s build on the skills we already have”

Further information on  Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal