Partnership improves Fort Augustus parking
A partnership between Lovat Estates and The Highland Council has seen the creation of 75 new parking spaces at the existing Riggs Car Park in Fort Augustus.
Leader of The Highland Council and local ward member Councillor Margaret Davidson welcomed the completion of the parking project and said: 'This has been a great joint business and council effort, which I hope we can do elsewhere in Fort Augustus and in other communities to create new parking that benefits visitors and locals.
'The car park extension is open and busy proving the demand for the spaces is extremely high. I commend Lovat Estates on the speed and quality with which they carried out the new surfacing works on their land.'
The partnership between the local authority and Lovat Estates has involved the business releasing land bordering an existing council car park.
The estate has levelled, surfaced and lined a new parking area. The council has installed car parking machines which will be maintained and enforced by its parking enforcement team with the income from the meters shared between the council and Lovat Estates.
Iain Shepherd, director of Lovat Estates, added: ‘We were very pleased to extend the existing Highland Council car park on to our land and to have it open before the peak tourist season this year. This extension is a win-win situation for everyone concerned and by providing much-needed additional parking for visitors to the village it will increase the footfall for local businesses. It will also alleviate the traffic congestion which previously arose at the car park in peak periods and enable more visitors to have a safe and enjoyable experience in Fort Augustus.
‘We are very pleased with the finished result and were impressed with the dedication of our contractors Pat Munro (Alness) Ltd which completed the project on budget and to a tight timescale despite the current pandemic and material shortages.’