Plans for Skye car park and toilets

The John Muir Trust, which looks after the Strathaird peninsula on Skye, has been awarded £65,579 to help it build two composting toilets and double the number of car parking spaces at the foot of Bla Bheinn.

The money, from the Rural Tourist Infrastructure Fund administered by VisitScotland, will help with the estimated £100,000 total cost of the project.

The balance will be raised by the trust, which submitted a planning application to Highland Council last week.

This plan would involve doubling the capacity of the existing car park from 16 to 34, including disabled access, and the building of two composting toilets, which will require minimal maintenance.

Sarah Lewis, the trust’s Skye conservation officer, said: ‘The John Muir Trust has recently invested heavily in footpath repairs.

‘But we are also looking at how best to manage visitor pressures, especially around Bla Bheinn, one of Scotland’s finest and most popular mountains.

‘We are confident this application will be successful because it will relieve parking congestion and help us keep the main access route to the mountain landscape tidy and free from the mess that some tourists, unfortunately, leave behind.’

The trust manages around 12,000 hectares on Skye and, over the past two years, it has invested £263,000 repairing and upgrading its network of footpaths on the island, including the Sligachan to Loch Coruisk route, the Elgol to Camasunary path and the scenic loop path at the Allt Daraich gorge between Sligachan and Glamaig.