Pat Munro Foundation rallies to storm-battered Ross-shire ‘sitooterie’ attraction
CHRISTMAS has come early for an award-winning Wester Ross community garden.
Following generous donations from the Great Wilderness Challenge and the Ross-shire based Pat Munro Foundation, a defensive sea wall is being built which will protect a very vulnerable low-lying area at the Sitooterie Wildlife Viewing Garden in Pier Road, Gairloch.
The Sitooterie began in 2015 when members of the local community funded the clearing of a small area amid the totally overgrown gorse that dominated the verge alongside Pier Road.
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Since then the garden has steadily expanded to its current 206-metre length and has since won numerous national awards from Keep Scotland Beautiful and The Royal Horticultural Society.
The garden area next to the boat slipway is frequently savaged by high tidal surges which have caused considerable wave damage in the past.
Huge amounts of seaweed, litter and other polluting items such as plastics, netting and polystyrene are regularly swept into this part of the garden.
Stone for the sea wall is being provided by the Pat Munro-owned Gairloch Quarry, and donated by the Pat Munro Foundation. Local contractor Roddy Bain is undertaking the building project which is hoped to be completed before Christmas.
Sitooterie team member David Carruthers said "These are fabulous donations from the Great Wilderness Challenge and the Pat Munro Foundation which will help to protect a very popular area of the garden, benefitting both locals and visitors for years to come".
