New lay-bys 'will aid tourist boom'
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A WELL-known section of the North Coast 500 in Wester Ross is to be upgraded to help it cope with growing tourist numbers.
New lay-by viewpoints will be created along the Bealach na Ba to cater for growing tourism demand – after Highland Council successfully applied for nearly £130,000 of government cash for the project.
The Bealach na Ba work is part of a wider £1.1 million handout to seven projects across the Highlands following applications to the Scottish Government’s Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund (RTIF).
The work on the lay-bys will also include £55,000 of Highland Council cash.
The various projects have also received more than £600,000 of council money, and hundreds of thousands of pounds from the European Leader fund.
These have included work at a number of sites on Skye, including cash for a much-needed car park expansion at the Old Man of Storr, as well as investment at the Fairy Pools, Quiraing, Neist Point and Blabheinn.
Money is also being spent on a major car park upgrade at Glenfinnan to cope with visitor numbers at the popular National Trust for Scotland site there, and also on pathways in Glenmore in the Cairngorms.
The council is considering up to 20 expressions of interest for further RTIF applications in the next round of handouts.
Councillor Allan Henderson, the chairman of the environment, development and infrastructure committee, welcomed the funding. He said: "Only [last] week, we welcomed the fantastic news that the Highlands are in the Lonely Planet’s top 10 list of places to visit.
"Our success in tourism can only go from strength to strength and funding like this will help to ease some of the pressures of increased visitor numbers."
Full applications for the next round of funding will be submitted by January 31, with announcements over which were successful expected around mid-March.
Five of the 20 projects are internal council projects with the rest being led by a community group, or other organisations.
