C O N T E X T 1 3 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4 27 plan, it has a large hall fronted by an Ionic, raised-domed portico, flanked by single-storey, pedimented pavilions. It is the centrepiece of Greenlaw Conservation Area and the village green on which it stands. After Greenlaw lost its county town status in 1904 the town hall had many different uses until it was vacated in 1998. In 2000 a bid for a community-led townscape heritage initiative bid failed owing to a lack of partnership funding. In 2006, after being added to the listed-buildings-at-risk register, the building was featured in the BBC2 television series Restoration Village, achieving regional runner-up status. Public safety concerns grew at the building’s serious state of disrepair and its negative impact on the local community and economy. However, media attention from exposure on national television generated interest from a broader area. The following year the Scottish Borders Council (SBC) and the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT) operating as a building preservation trust agreed to lead the project. Informed by a series of well-attended public meetings, an options appraisal concluded that the preferred community use could be made financially sustainable only as part of a mixed-use development including income-generating uses. In 2008 Historic Scotland offered a £500,000 grant, subject to £400,000 being raised locally within nine months of the offer. This left the enormous task of finding the balance of funds. It soon became clear that grants and local fundraising alone would never be sufficient. Another source would be needed.Where enabling development is used to generate funds for heritage projects, this usually takes place on land contiguous to the heritage asset, but Greenlaw Town Hall’s village-green location left no scope for this approach. However, not to be dissuaded from the concept, the project leaders examined the prospect of off-site enabling development as a possible alternative way forward. Through the largesse of a local landowner, a site on the edge of the village was gifted to the SHBT to be used for housing development. Securing planning permission presented the next hurdle. Although planning policy favoured affordable housing, the gifted site was not allocated for development. However, the planning authority was able to bring the site forward outwith the local plan cycle through the use of an exceptions policy whereby land can be so allocated subject to proving need and other significant community benefits. Soon afterwards a registered social landlord secured funds to purchase the site. All these processes with their challenging deadlines, and £1.75 million secured from large national funders, trusts and local donors, were achieved within four months. Practical completion was achieved in February 2011. This was only four years from concept to completion, exceptionally quick for a major partnership project.The official opening was performed in the following May by the Prince of Wales. Greenlaw Town Hall is once again the proud centrepiece on the village green, a focal point visually and functionally, providing 231 square metres of managed business space and a large, multi-purpose community space. The project’s significant bonus – the off-site enabling development of 16 affordable houses for rent – has been accomplished without impinging on the heritage asset itself. It is example to all building preservation trusts and a model that could certainly be used elsewhere. For further details, see www.shbt.org.uk/projects. Stewart Ramsdale Andy Millar: the solution depended on mixed-use development Day school delegates enjoying the talks (left) and comparing notes with colleagues between sessions (right).
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