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Locals make a splash about dolphin project on Black Isle

Bottle nose dolphin
Bottle nose dolphin

Plans for making a dolphin watching vantage point in the Highlands more user friendly were yesterday criticised by some locals.

Thousands of people flock to Chanonry Point at Fortrose each year in the hope of seeing the cetaceans close-up but the growing popularity of the hotspot has created congestion problems in recent years.

The proposals include improving the appearance of the car park area by filling potholes, building new car park spacers and seating areas, as well as marking out a pedestrian crossing.

Public art has also been pencilled in.

At a public drop-in session yesterday displaying the proposals, locals highlighted the lack of a toilet and problems caused by a narrow access road which cuts through the adjacent Fortrose and Rosemarkie golf course.

The drop-in session, which took place at Fortrose’s Black Isle leisure centre displayed sketches of two possible options for improving the appearance and visitor experience at the special site.

A sum of £125,000 has been ring-fenced for the project, which is being advanced by the by the Chanonry Point Advisory Group.

This consists of Highland councillors, Fortrose and Rosemarkie Golf Club, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Moray Firth Partnership and the local community council.

William Gordon, a keen golfer from Fortrose, said that heavy motor traffic during the summer causes hold-ups for golfers and poses a danger to cars and walkers being struck by golf balls.

He added: “This morning I played and we were waiting six to seven minutes at a time to allow cars to pass. You often get three buses going along the road nose to tail. The whole problem is that the road is unsuitable. The 15th hole crosses the road and the 12th and 13th run adjacent to it. And the more the dolphins get publicised the more traffic there will be.”

Laurence Lockhart from the Wildlife Sealife and Countryside Trust’s research unit at Chanonry point, said: “I think it needs a toilet because people are going behind shrubs and it is entering the water. We have been asking for a toilet for three years now. Quite why £125,000 is being spent on aesthetic things that are not of so much importance I don’t know. Why not spend some of that money on something more practical.”

Emlyn Evans and her husband Alwena from Wrexham in North Wales were visiting the point yesterday. She said: “They could do with some toilet facilities here, and they could make more of the place, even a tea room would be nice.”