Berwickshire News June 8th

The front page headline in this week's News is that two sets plans for a care home in Coldstream came before the council this week. One was rejected outright because it was proposed to use land earmarked for light industrial use, a decision on the other proposal on Kelso Road just outside the settlement boundary deferred.

Planning applications for the new high schools in Duns & Eyemouth have run into problems - In Eyemouth it revolves around the non-treatment of surface water runoff before it's discharged into the Eye Water, connection to the water & drainage mains
and also objections from local residents about the service access. In Duns surface water is again an issue, the SBC director of planning doesn't regard the location as ideal for a landmark building because it's low lying, ground problems, flood risk, loss of wetland habitat and biodiversity. Berwickshire Civic Society object on the grounds that the new school will detract from the old one which is a listed building.

Digital TV coverage maps have varying degrees of accuracy states another front pager - the early versions of the leaflet produced by Digital UK that were placed in libraries have been replaced. The Paper Boy has recently thought of another way of detecting if readers will be affected - on an analogue ITV1 if you switch to teletext and press the "Reveal" button it will tell you which main transmitter you get your signal from via a 3 letter code. If it reads "SEL" you're affected and will be switching over in 2008. Of course if you view ITV1 at 6pm and you're greeted from Carlisle that's another giveaway......

The introduction by SBC of charges for School Minibus use attracts some attention and criticism on the inside page - the new charges amount to £30 for a half-day or £50 for a full-day - the old charge was 30p per mile. Previously there were 14 buses - soon there will be 9. All this to save £85000 on the education budget. A teaching union spokesperson claimed that it was not the case that school trips may be cancelled in future - it is already happening. Perhaps they should have tapped the stars of the next story for the £85k....

The Duke & Duchess of Rothesay (aka Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall everywhere else in the world bar Scotland) visited Borders General Hospital to open a new scanner and to attend a Prince's Trust Anniversary event. A large number of dignitaries managed to attend the events at BGH or the evening do, leaving the Paper Boy wondering what these dignitaries do when they're not meeting the Duke & Duchess, because it's obviously not important that it can be ignored for the day. There is no mention of what the visit cost to stage, but the Paper Boy suspects it would go a long way to funding the school trip minibuses for the year....

The nets at Paxton House fishing station have been blessed - what impact that has on the function of the nets is unclear, but the rowing boat and oars pictured could do with a lick of paint.

A Duns-based SSPCA inspector was one of three SSPCA inspectors honoured by the organisation with a national award for services to animal welfare.

Over at Sheriff Kevin's hothouse courthouse (see previous post, heating malfunction not mentioned in the Berwickshire) a Portuguese man who gave an Oxford address pleaded guilty to a charge of indecent assault and two breaches of the peace in Galashiels over the space of 3 months in 2004. Sentence was deferred to June 26th and he was remanded in custody. A Leamington Spa man appeared before Sheriff K after pulling out to overtake a lorry on the A1 into the path of an oncoming police car on a bend, whilst claiming to be unsighted by the sun. Sheriff Drummond opined that the accused's driving fell far short of the minimum standards expected of drivers and that it posed a hazard to reasonable drivers, so relieved him of £400, his driving licence for 12 months and ordered him to sit an extended driving test at the end of the disqualification. A Clydebank man with a history of violence remanded in custody for committing a breach of the peace, obstructing the police & criminal damage in Galashiels. The Sheriff said "the combination of young men, alcohol, violence and knives causes big problems". Sentence deferred until he appears at Selkirk in connection with other matters on July 5th. A Grantshouse youth mentioned previously appeared in person after his previous guilty plea by letter on the charge of wasting Police time. Sheriff Drummond told the lad "there needs to be some recompense for the public purse, £475 of Police time was wasted". The case was passed to the Children's Panel for them to determine the scale of recompense. He will appear on June 12th. A Duns woman was summoned to appear in person after pleading guilty by letter to 4 charges of assault on two minors. She will appear on June 28th.

On the letters page, the colour of the Saltires flying at Lamberton on the A1 continues to attract attention - a correspondent informs the readership that there are in fact two variants of any Pantone® colour, coated and uncoated - depending upon what the colour is printed. He goes on to add that colour can be, and is measured & defined numerically - which eliminates the "too dark", "too lemony" type of argument.

A "Marilyn Munroe" film was the theme for Berwick & District Floral Art Club - when the Paper Boy checked for the output of Ms Munroe and could find nothing other than a "Marilyn Munro" who worked as a production manager on the Tigger Movie or a more widely known "Marilyn Monroe". The leading competitor for typo of the week I think that one.

Picture of Duns Sheriff Court courtesy of the Scottish Courts website