Land Acquisition for Waverley Rail Project Begins

25 July 2007

The land acquisition process required for the construction and operation of the Waverley Railway Project will formally begin next month when Scottish Borders Council contacts land and property owners.

The serving of General Vesting Declaration (GVD) will mark the formal process of transferring land ownership along the route to Scottish Borders Council. Some land and property has already been acquired through an Advance Purchase
Scheme.

Although Transport Scotland is expected to take over the role of authorised undertaker of the project following a review of budget and programme being carried out over the summer, Scottish Borders Council is responsible for delivering the land required for the railway.

To enable the land acquisition work to be completed on time and within budget, Scottish Borders Council has engaged the services of external legal and land valuation teams.

More than 1400 individual plots of land have been broken down into a series of "tranches" or groupings. Owners/occupiers will be contacted on an individual basis by Scottish Borders Council’s external legal team, Brodies LLP.

Notices are to be served on affected owners/occupiers within the first tranche of land during the summer, with other notices following on during the remainder of 2007 and early part of 2008. Most affected landholders have previously been contacted. It is anticipated that all the necessary land will be available by late summer 2008.

Scottish Borders Council Leader, David Parker said: "The process of land acquisition is a crucial and necessary step in the preparatory work for the Waverley Railway Project. The Scottish Borders Council project team is currently working through the transition arrangements with Transport Scotland. We remain committed to consulting closely with affected parties along the route."

Survey work on the 35-mile Waverley route is already underway. The Waverley Railway Project is an initiative to re- establish a rail link to provide a passenger transport service from Edinburgh to the central Borders area in Scotland.

The line will serve a combined population approaching 200,000 in the Scottish Borders and Midlothian, two of the few mainland areas in Scotland not currently served by a passenger railway. It will provide an effective public transport link to enable residents of the Scottish Borders and Midlothian to access important employment, education, health and leisure opportunities.

Furthermore, the reinstatement of the railway line between Edinburgh and Tweedbank in the Borders will allow both areas to maximise their economic development opportunities through tourism and additional jobs. The railway will facilitate new affordable housing and help combat the overheated Edinburgh residential property market. In addition, it will tackle congestion and assist in addressing Lothian's predicted labour market shortfall of 18,500 people by 2015.

The Waverley Railway Project received Royal Assent in July 2006 following the Scottish Parliament's decision to ratify the proposals.  

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