Highland Council's tourism committee approves visitor management action plan for Durness
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North councillors have approved a visitor management action plan to help a north-west Sutherland community cope with an increasing number of visitors.
Members of the tourism committee agreed the plan for Durness at their meeting today.
A separate action plan for the Assynt area is expected to follow in the coming weeks.
Durness has a resident population of just 250 but the number of people staying in the village can swell to up to 1000 every night in the summer.
The community has been identified by Highland Council access rangers as struggling to cope with the explosion in visitor numbers since the pandemic. Reports and data were gathered by the seasonal rangers between May and October 2021.
Other areas identified as priorities for action are Glenbrittle on Skye and the Road to the Isles between Fort William and Mallaig. Action plans have been drawn up for these areas also.
The access ranger for each area collated the action plans in consultation with stakeholders including community councils, land managers, businesses, government organisations, non-government organisations (NGOs) and council officers.
The action plans highlight and describe each challenge, suggest actions with options, timescales and a proposed multi-agency approach. To view them, click here.
Tourism committee chairman Councillor Gordon Adam said: “A collaborative approach to visitor management is key to improving both the visitor experience and the balance of community life.
“The local action plans presented today demonstrate a joined-up approach by the council, partner agencies and communities to work together to produce positive outcomes that understand both the challenges and needs in key hotspot areas to address visitor management.”
Highland Council has agreed £1.5 million funding for its wider visitor management strategy, which includes £350,000 for seasonal access rangers, £240,000 for road management, £190,000 for public toilets, £160,000 for parking management and £55,000 for motorhome facilities.
