Major setback for Star of Caledonia

The £5million Star of Caledonia project has been in progress for twelve years and was put together by the Gretna Landmark Trust.

It's a huge sculpture, twice the height of the Angel of the North, that will be situated next to the M6 at Gretna.

The Star will act as a marker for the border, but will also be a tourist attraction for visitors to the area.

However, Creative Scotland have just pulled their funding for the project. Match funding was not brought forward from either Dumfries and Galloway Council or the Scottish Government, and Alastair Houston feels the referendum could have impacted on the decision:

The Star received full planning permission from the council without one single objection.

It's also had widespread support from the local communities, cross-party politicians and councillors. In response to the funding being dropped, the council says:

A recent addition to the border at Gretna is the Auld Alliance Cairn. It was built in the last few weeks leading up to the referendum and was about bringing the people of Great Britain together.

It's already proven to be a popular attraction with tourists and the team behind the Star project hopes that everyone can now move on, for the benefit of the region, and Scotland:

The Gretna Landmark Trust hopes that they can come to an agreement with Creative Scotland and work with the local council and the Scottish Government to make sure this project suffers no more delays.

If funding is found, then construction work could begin in 2016.