Here is some great news from Stephen Lucking, who has been following and reporting on this issue from the start:

It was a surprise that the decision to refuse the appeal appeared on 23rd December but it made a great Christmas present.

The Andersons are very grateful for the support you have given us in fighting BL2 as am I.  I can't guarantee that there can be no BL3 but it does seem unlikely.

Thanks again and all the best for 2020.

Stephen

Following on from the 2006 and 2017 survey of valley residents, the C.D.T is now looking at the possibility of developing  Affordable Housing.
We would like feedback once again from the community in order that we may assess how high the need/desire is for affordable housing within the Borthwick Valley and would therefore ask as many of you as possible to complete a survey returning it using whichever method is the most convenient. We enclose a paper copy with this issue, but it is also available on the CDT website and on-line through http://bit.ly/BWCDTAHSurvey
Although no sites have been identified as yet, we need to establish the community response before committing to a feasibility study and exploring how it may be funded.

See attached......

Courtesy of Tamsin Growden.

The ‘200 Club’ began in the 1980’s as a fund-raising scheme for the Forman Memorial Hall. In that time, it has contributed around £400 every year towards the upkeep of the Hall.
The new ‘200 Club’ was relaunched in April 2018 with bigger and better prizes! Each month there are prizes of £50.00, £20.00 and £10.00.
Members will each pay £10 per year to become a member of the club. (That’s less than £1 per month). Each member is then assigned a number (from 1 through to 200) and will be given a ticket valid from April 2019 to March 2020. There are still numbers available for 2019 to 2020. Please contact Clare on 372000 if you would like to take part.

I took the opportunity of stopping to chat to one of the Morrison's Utility Services engineers who is laying the new fibre cable from Hawick to the exchange (Borthwickbrae).

I don't know if the following is 100% accurate or confirmed, but this is what he said :-

On Saturday 2nd March, the Gardener's Forum is holding it's annual Spring Event.

This year it is an 'Open' occasion, meaning that anyone currently not a member, but would like to try out an event and see what we are all about, will be made most welcome.

The theme is Scottish, previous themes have been Hungarian, Indian and Greek. Attendees are asked to bring a Scottish themed dish for a buffet supper, preferably ready to serve, we have the facility to hold hot food.

Dishes pledged at the time of writing include:

Leek & Potato Gratin

Balmoral Chicken

Beef Casserole & Dumplings

Vegetarian Haggis and Whisky sauce Lasagne

Neeps & Tatties

Cranachan

There may be a third fibre cabinet being installed next to the Telephone Exchange (Borthwickbrae) over the next few months. Thanks to Irene and Simon who live near the Exchange for pointing out that there have been markings (now gone) on the ground. If you're within 1km (as the road travels) of the exchange, then you're highly likely to be able to get Superfast Broadband (if a fibre cabinet does indeed get built there).

Huge thanks to Jamie Gray at Eildrig for this info.

He has been consulted by a telecoms company looking to erect a mast at Eildrig, as part of the Scottish 4G Infill programme. This is in addition to the emergency services provision that is coming at the same location. It is not confirmed, but likely, that both emergency mobile phone signal, and commercial mobile phone signal (along with 4G data connectivity) will use the same mast (at Eildrig), once they've worked out how to get power to it etc....

This, of course, provides an alternate Superfast Broadband option for those within range of the mast, who may not be served by the upcoming OpenReach provision.

Further to the road closure article, and after a few enquiries with RoadWorks Scotland, we have approximate locations for the new fibre cabinets that are going to be installed up the valley over the next 3 weeks.

As suspected, there are only two that we know of at present :-(

One of them is going to be at Craik approximately where the road (from Roberton to Howpasley) forks downhill to Craik village (near Old Howpasley Schoolhouse). The work there also includes replacing a "faulty" telegraph pole and providing a power supply to the fibre cabinet. According to 1 Craik resident, there are spray paint markings where the cabinet is likely to be.

Good News and Bad News.

Good News
Over the next 2 weeks, OpenReach will be doing their preparatory work for the pending Superfast Broadband rollout later this year. Probably blowing fibre the length of the valley from Craik to Hawick.

Bad News
This will involve a series of roadworks as detailed in the diagram below.

For the most part, traffic should still be able to pass. However, one  Craik resident has informed us that they have received a letter from Morrison's Utility Services (who are doing the work on behalf of OpenReach) stating that there will be a "road closure on ZU103, Borthwickbrae for 5 days" [from Thurs 24th Jan 2019].