Thursday January 15th 2026
Webmart LTD
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
An Oxfordshire-based company is planning to provide its employees with a woodlands holiday getaway in the Borders.
Back in 2014 sustainable marketing company Webmart Ltd purchased a 164-acre woodland site in Grange Wood near Coldingham.
Its vision was to recreate a Caledonian forest and 13,000 trees have since been planted and 26 ponds created.
This vision has greatly enhanced local biodiversity and carbon sequestration on the site.
Now the Bicester-based company has submitted a planning bid to Scottish Borders Council for a holiday cabin for use by its employees on land west of Grange Wood.
The cabin would be primarily used by employees of the applicant, but also available as a short-term rental to the public when not otherwise in use.
The site contains a small building group comprising an existing house, the Grange Woodhouse, as well as two sheds ancillary to the house, sited around an existing yard area.
The Grange Woodhouse is an eco-house which already embodies the sustainability vision for the site, with reduced energy consumption and a low-carbon footprint, by being off-grid and relying on solar power and a back-up generator.
The existing buildings are very discreetly located and screened within the woodland environment, being accessed from the unclassified public road between the B6438 and the A1107 by an existing woodland track.
It is proposed that the new holiday cabin be sited at the south-west end of the existing building group, between the two sheds, and opposite the existing house, forming a loose quadrangle.
This arrangement will allow parking and access to the cabin from the existing yard area.
The siting of the cabin in the yard area will not require the removal of any trees and will not affect ecology on the site.
A report in support of th application states: “The proposed holiday cabin will be a high-performance, low-carbon modular building that will continue the sustainability vision for the site.
“The ‘Nord’ cabin is built to perform to an EPC A-rating, and its external material palette of charred timber and black metal roof will blend with the aesthetics of the site and be well integrated into the woodland setting.
“In conclusion, we believe that the proposed holiday cabin will allow the applicant’s employees and members of the public to enjoy the benefits of the woodland setting with very minimal impact on the environment and no impact on local amenity.”
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