A Highland community council has taken exception to a charging policy that will see Fort William residents charged an annual fee to park.
Fort William, Inverlochy and Torlundy Community Council has written to Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) over its plan to charge local hillwalkers an annual fee of £40 to use its Braveheart car park.
The charges, which came into force earlier this month, mean motorists need to pay £1 an hour, or £3 for the day.
In response to previous concerns raised by the community council, it was agreed that a annual parking pass would be introduced.
Many feel the annual Glen Nevis charge is ‘too high’
However, community council chairman Mark Linfield said he was concerned at the charge. He said: “We do understand why FLS have decided to implement parking charges at Glen Nevis.
“The high usage of the car park has led to greater cleaning and maintenance costs,
“Whilst we believe most people don’t object to paying a small parking charge, many residents are unhappy with the annual fee and feel it is too high.
He added: “We wonder if the annual fee will encourage locals to roadside park and how the charges are going to work alongside the other car parks in Glen Nevis.”
Community council secretary Patricia Jordan said: “The final outcome is that senior management have advised that they cannot reduce the annual fee for locals, which we requested.
“FLS will however be upgrading and resurfacing the car park and work will be ongoing on the patchwork until March 21.
‘Parking is still free at 80% of our car parks’
“The annual ticket will also give you access to their other car parks in the area which are now charging.”
A spokesman for FLS said: “The annual pass is available regionally, covering a range of car parks where tariffs apply.
“It is aimed at regular visitors and represents good value for money for anyone that makes more than one all-day visit a month to our charging car parks throughout the year.
“Parking is still free at 80% of our car parks.”
