Thursday June 12th 2025
The Eildon Bar and Function Room
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
It could soon be last orders for a bar and function room in Coldstream after a Berwickshire councillor revealed plans for its conversion into a flats complex.
A planning bid has been submitted to Scottish Borders Council for the change of use of the Eildon Centre in Victoria Street into six flats, ranging from two bedrooms to four bedrooms over three storeys, with wheelchair access included.
SNP Mid-Berwickshire councillor Donald Moffat has owned and run the venue since 1988 and has decided to sell as he prepares for his retirement.
He said: “There have been people in the past who were considering putting in 12 or 15 flats and I didn’t consider that was good for the area, and at that time I was still enjoying running it as a bar and function room.
“But time has gone on and as we have got older myself and my wife are just basically planning ahead for when the time comes to retire.”
The bar is still operating and is open five nights a week.
Mr Moffat said: “I want something that will be for people who want to downsize from a big house with a garden to something smaller in the town centre.
“We wanted something that fitted in and didn’t cause a problem for the area.”
Mr Moffat has made an assurance that he would honour any functions already booked at the premises and said Covid had had an impact on business.
He added: “When we first opened we would get 100 to 150 at the country and western nights and Irish nights and that was every month, with 60 to 100 at Scottish country dance nights, but that doesn’t happen now because you just don’t get enough people going.
“Since Covid the crowds haven’t been as big and the business is not what it was, numbers-wise. There was one night when we had 300 in the building, we haven’t had anything like that for a long time. It’s nothing like it was.
“We’re just trying to do something that is good and reasonable for the town.”
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