Timber transport’s £7m of new funding

Some £7 million of funding has been announced to improve Scotland’s timber transport infrastructure.

Work to upgrade rural roads, the creation of new forest haulage routes, passing places for communities and the promotion of moving timber by sea will share in the Scottish Government cash boost.

The projects are located in Aberdeenshire, Angus, the Scottish Borders, Dumfries & Galloway, Ayrshire, Stirling and the Highlands. Among the schemes are £900,000 towards Timberlink, which moves around 100,000 tonnes of timber by sea from Argyll to Ayrshire reducing the number of lorries using the A83 over the Rest and Be Thankful, and £2.2m towards a range of road improvements in the Highlands where much of the timber traffic relies on minor roads.

The funding is through the Strategic Timber Transport Fund, which is part funded by Transport Scotland and managed by Scottish Forestry.