A major community and visitor hub is being planned at Kylesku after a 45-acre site was bought by the John Muir Trust.
The site overlooks Loch a’ Chàirn Bhàin with views across to the mountain Quinag which the conservation charity manages.
It now plans an extensive consultation to get feedback on the site’s future.
Fantastic opportunity
The trust says it wants to work with communities and crofters to boost the area’s fragile economy, increase the resident population and strengthen the bond between people, landscape and nature.
The owners of the Kylesku Lodges site, which is on the North Coast 500 route, put it on the market last year for £1.4m.
It includes ten A-frame lodges with planning consent for further infrastructure in keeping with the surrounding landscape.
While the consultation proceeds over the next year or so, the existing business located on the site will continue.
John Muir Trust CEO David Balharry said: “We believe this could be a fantastic opportunity for the area.
“We don’t want to pre-empt the community consultation by setting out specific plans at this stage.
“We will start by conducting a feasibility study around design and funding, then engage in wide-ranging conversations with local residents, organisations and businesses.
“Strong local involvement will not only generate ideas and inform our plans but ensure the social, economic, cultural and environmental benefits created will be real and lasting.”
He added: “Within every rural community there is a mix of different priorities.
Trust keen to hear suggestions for site
“We are keen to hear from local people from all walks of life with a broad range of views and suggestions.”
In addition to Quinag, the trust also manages Ben Nevis, Sandwood Bay, Schiehallion, and parts of Skye, Knoydart, the Scottish Borders and the Lake District.
Earlier this year the trust was involved in a dispute with crofters after being granted a licence by NatureScot for out-of-season and night shooting of deer on Quinag.
It said it was needed to protect woodland from grazing deer.
But the Assynt Crofters’ Trust said the shooting was “gratuitous” and wanted the licence revoked.
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