TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO Friday January 1, 1993

It’s no picnic

PLANS to dig up an important car park in order to plant trees and picnic tables have sparked off an angry response from a Clachan farmer.

Mr Tom Pollock of Ronachan Farm claims to have been pressured by Strathclyde Regional Council to agree to a project he describes as ‘a waste of public money’.

Mr Pollock said: ‘I have had pressure put on me in the form of two phone calls within an hour from the landscape architect and the roads department to get me to agree to the proposals to dig up the car park.’

He says he is strongly objecting to proposals from Strathclyde Regional Council’s roads department, and its consultant landscape architect, to modify the car park at Seal Viewpoint, Ronachan.

‘These plans would seriously reduce the area available for parking cars,’ said Mr Pollock.

‘In my opinion, that will make it more difficult for tourists and residents to enjoy the scenery and wild life, birds as well as seals, visible from this point.’

Mr Pollock says that the car park was built in the days of Argyll County Council.

Cars and bus tours stopping on the main road at that point were causing a traffic hazard, and so the roads department, at that time, wished to provide proper parking facilities for the public Mr Pollock’s mother, a local representative on that council, donated the land for this purpose.