Extra Old Man of Storr parking welcomed

More parking is to be created at one of Skye’s most famous tourist spots.

Highland Council is to start work on 20 extra parking spaces in a layby on the A855 at the popular Old Man of Storr site after additional funding was secured.

The supplementary parking is on top of the additional 60 parking spaces, along with a dedicated motorcycle parking area, which recently received planning permission.

Last year about 206,000 people visited the Old Man of Storr in the north of the island, up by 16 per cent in 2017, causing severe parking problems.

Numbers at the site have grown steadily from 20,000 at the start of the millennium to 62,000 in 2013 and then an incredible 233 per cent increase over the next five years. The new spaces are expected to be completed by the end of this month.

Including the additional 20 parking spaces, once phase one is complete there will be parking for 142 vehicles.

A second phase of parking improvements has been proposed, meaning a further 44 spaces could be provided, bringing the final total up to 186 spaces.

Separate planning permission has been approved for new public toilets, including disabled and baby changing areas, and a chemical toilet disposal area adjacent to the main toilet block which will help with another identified problem of a lack of disposal points for camper vans.

Highland Council committed £363,571 to the project that has unlocked £200,000 from LEADER and £300,000 from the Rural Tourism and Infrastructure Fund.