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Highland Council eyes NC500 improvements with UK Government levelling up fund bid


By Alan Shields

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The NC500.
The NC500.

Highland councillors are to be presented with a UK levelling up fund report this week with eyes on improving the North Coast 500.

Full council meets on Thursday (June 30) when members will be shown the document.

Councillors will be asked to agreed to submit a bid for the second round - having already been successful with proposals in the first round.

It comes after the Chancellor set out details of the £4.8billion fund last March (2021).

The fund is designed to offer the opportunity for areas that have been underdeveloped to improve infrastructure including town regeneration, upgrading transport links and investment in cultural and heritage assets deemed of significance.

Round two of the bid has a closing date of June 6.

Councillors are to be asked to back a resubmission of a transport bid for the NC500, which has been tweaked following feedback.

The three funding aspects, estimated at a cost of £44million are:

•Achnasheen to Kishorn: NC500 tourist route and Kishorn Port Access.

•Ullapool to Bettyhill: NC500 tourist route and key north Sutherland vehicle access.

•North Coast 500 Green Tourism Project

A further separate bid aims to improve Portree Harbour on the Isle of Skye through the fund.

Economy and infrastructure committee chair, cllr Ken Gowans said: “It is promising to read a strong report that clearly identifies two separate bids for the next round of Levelling Up Fund (LUF) and we look forward to Thursday’s Council meeting where we will consider two bids and future plans for round three and four.

"Improved transport connectivity across parts of the North Coast 500 area, Green Tourism Project and a transformative upgrade to Portree Harbour could be a real catalyst for economic recovery in two distinctive areas in Highland.”

There will be two further rounds of the UK Levelling Up Funds and it is hoped to resubmit the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency bid, similarly Ross, Skye and Lochaber Constituency in round three.

It is anticipated that round three will be open for submission around summer 2023.


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