Center Parcs show off Hawick holiday village plans
July 9 2025
Detailed plans for the first Center Parcs village in Scotland have been made public, detailing a self contained holiday park located on 1,000 acres of farmland near Hawick.
Overseen by Jackson Design Associates and Holder Mathias Architects the holiday village will be dominated by a 'sub tropical' indoor pool with associated recreation facilities, 646 lodges and 48 apartments served by a 1,723 space car park.
Center Parcs CEO Colin McKinlay commented: "Over the last eight months, we’ve listened carefully to feedback from local communities and stakeholders and have worked hard to shape a proposal that is both ambitious and sensitive to its surroundings.
"Your insights have helped us develop a design that, we believe, blends seamlessly with the natural landscape while delivering high-quality accommodation and leisure experiences for families."
The village centre is situated in a local dip in the topography to help conceal the 19m tall swimming pool in long views, necessary to house various water attractions. Unlike previous Center Parcs this facility will de-emphasise the use of roof glazing in light of energy considerations with a silver-grey roof and edge profile accentuating its distinctive sweep.
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8 Comments
You're picturing some unspoilt Bonnie Bonnie Banks, aren't you? The site largely sits between a retail park and a housing development. Of course, I do understand that the headline 'flamingoland in Loch Lomond National Park' does create a certain image. The Center Parks proposal is on and within open unspoilt farmland, but beacause no NP designation it's all good.
Little wonder Galloway turned down the offer of a National Park - little real good comes of it for residents.
PS
Is it okay to eat lasagne from a packet if its from Waitrose?
The Borders is crying out for tourists and jobs. Looks like a positive development.
A: Yes, of course. Plus you get extra kudos points if it's from the Waitrose No.1 range.
Meantime, slightly confused how 646 lodges + 48 apartments = 1,723 space car park. Surely that's around double what you'd need?
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Answer: it won't.
The reason the Balloch proposal attracted such flak:
a) It was submitted under the company name of 'Flamingo Land' which conjured a tacky image despite no flamingo-related attractions proposed (the developments name ‘Lomond Banks’ would have been better), and
b) Despite the actual run-down urban backdrop of Balloch, the site is technically on Loch Lomond, which conjured images of an unspoilt lochside.
Social media planning objection campaign bandwagons are the worst, and all objections no matter how remote (Margaret in Manchester who doesn't want a flamingo theme park in Luss) are considered equally valid.
This proposal by Center Parcs will sail through despite being a green field site, simply because Hawick is less well-known than Loch Lomond and because they've not submitted the application under 'Giant Overpriced Creche Ltd'.