Highland Council is to move forward with car parking charges at tourist hotpots to help visitor management projects.
The authority’s tourism committee has approved a visitor management plan to ease issues surrounding the growing number of tourists to the region.
Spending totalling £1.5 million will fund infrastructure projects including road management and improvements, parking, tackling litter and fly tipping, enhancing bus services and providing new seasonal rangers.
It has earmarked £250,000 to install charging at 21 ‘tourist dominated’ car parks, to be considered by area committees, as well as four extra temporary parking officers for a year.
The committee heard the introduction of parking charges near the Old Man of Storr in Skye has helped the authority provide effective visitor management facilities in the area.
To help accommodate visitors a new car park has been completed and a new toilet block and camper van waste disposal site are due for completion next month.
These follow previous works to provide an additional lay-by, constructed in 2019, and parking for up to 140 vehicles.
Councillors agreed that further opportunities for new visitor management related car park improvements are advanced as part of an agreed roll out for car park charging.
Committee chairman Gordon Adam said: “Members are supportive of the delivery of the council’s visitor management plan and the roll out of the car parking projects across the region.”
The council is also developing a separate tourism infrastructure plan to identify longer-term tourism infrastructure requirements.
