Plans submitted for housing development on railway station yard near Berwick

A planning application for four homes on land west of Velvet Hall Station, near Berwick, has been submitted by Nationwide Design and Development.

The site occupies part of the yards of the former station on the Tweedmouth to Kelso branch line which closed to passengers in July 1955 and to freight traffic in March 1965.

Over the last 20 years the wider site, near Horncliffe, has been used at varying intensities for open storage of vehicles, especially heavy vehicles and groundworks equipment.

A report by Ferguson Planning, on behalf of the applicant, outlines the proposal for the new dwellings in a linear row extending west of the old station house.

"The layout of development has been designed to manifest the character of a traditional row of railway cottages,” it states.

"The four new dwellings are proposed in ‘L-plan’ form. This reflects the design of the local existing dwellings – Ging Gang House, 2 Velvet Hall Station Cottages, and 3 Velvet Hall Station Cottages.”

Vehicle access is proposed by retention and resurfacing of the existing highway access from the A698.

While the old station building remains in place, almost all associated infrastructure has been removed apart from a small section of railway platform which would be retained in-situ within the rear garden of plot 1.

The report concludes: “It is considered that the proposed dwellings make use of an attractive design style and high quality materials to provide the basis for making a new high quality place at Velvet Hall and would not raise issues of any significance.”