Highland Council access rangers team to work through winter
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A TEAM of seven Highland Council Access Rangers will continue to patrol and carry out countryside, core path and visitor preparation works throughout winter.
During summer the council’s seasonal rangers patrolled much of the area and helped reduce the impact of thousands of visitors on local environments and communities, a duty that at times was not pleasant.
The rangers welcomed and engaged with nearly 20,000 people, informed them about the area and available services and advised them on responsible behaviour.
They encountered 8,600 tents and 24,500 motorhomes and removed the remains of 3,500 campfires, 4,200 toileting sites and over 2,000 bags of litter.
There has been extensive positive feedback from communities, organisations, and visitors for the access rangers’ work with calls for the service to be continued in 2022.
The council said their members recognise the benefits the service provides and committed to extend the visitor management plan funding into 2022 by a one-off investment of £1.5 million.
Funding allocated to the outdoor access team for the remainder of this financial year will allow five rangers to continue employment until April 2022.
They will assist the access officers in carrying out countryside site and core path improvements. Paths at Ceannabeinne and Melvich in Sutherland, Swinney Hill in Caithness, Fyrish, Torridon and Strathpeffer in Ross-shire, Tomich and Fort William are likely to see maintenance works.
A further two rangers will continue employment until April 2022 through other funding opportunities. One will be partnership with Visit Inverness Loch Ness and SSE, who will continue to work in the Loch Ness area, while the other will help identify opportunities for biodiversity enhancements and community food growing on council managed land.
Destination plans for hotspot areas including Morar/Arisaig, Durness and Glen Brittle will be produced in preparation for the 2022 season.
Other maintenance works will likely take place at Ardvreck, Strathy, Duntelchaig, Duntulm, and Gruinard with other areas to be confirmed.
In September the council's communications team produced a video about the work of the Access Rangers on location at Loch Duntelchaig and Loch Achilty. It can view the video on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/LvDcHV3zxfQ
