Beauty spot seating area
A new viewing structure is to be built in a bid to distract visitors from electricity pylons near Loch Katrine.
SP Energy Networks have been granted permission by Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park planners to create a footpath and install a viewing area on land north of Stronachlachar Pier.
The site is a high point of land accessible rom a private road circling Loch Katrine. The road is a core path connecting Stronachlachar to Loch Katrine Pier. The land is managed by Forestry and Land Scotland who recently clear felled the area.
The plans involve building a 2.5 metres wide footpath from the private road to a high point on the promontory where the viewing structure - built in curved weathered steel and forming a circular seating and viewing area - will be erected.
In their decision, park planners said: “The proposed path and viewpoint is part of a wider project to mitigate the visual impacts of existing energy infrastructure. In this case the aim is to ‘change the view’ and focus the attention of recreational users away from electricity pylons on the west hillside above Loch Katrine and towards the loch and the surrounding hillside to the south and east. The proposal will also be an addition to the core path around Loch Katrine. “Alongside the proposed development is management of the whole promontory by Forestry and Land Scotland to remove non-native species (sitka spruce and rhododendron) whilst supporting native woodland regeneration.
“The National Park Landscape advisor is supportive of the proposed development. They have advised that the site is of high landscape value due to the setting of ‘rugged uplands contrasting with Loch Katrine’. However, the introduction of the proposed built features ( if they would be evident from distant views) would be read with the existing development at Stronachlachar Pier.
“A natural colour palette in combination with native broadleaved regeneration and planting will reduce the long-term impact of the development and there should be a negligible localised landscape and visual effect.”