A group of residents has begun to take steps to save toilets in two Black Isle villages.
Highland Council says Fortrose and Rosemarkie’s public toilets will be closed permanently by the end of this month unless an appropriate organisation can be found to take them over.
The council will not transfer its assets to community councils so the residents want to form Fortrose & Rosemarkie Development Trust, which could then choose to take on the toilets.
Spokesman Iain Brown stressed the development trust was not being formed specifically to take on the toilets but as a vehicle for the community to access funding and channel community efforts ‘in pursuit of the common good.’
He said: “There are some steps to go through before we have the ten elected directors necessary to take on initiatives, and these will be what the community want, which may not necessarily be taking on the toilets, although these will be considered as a first priority.
“We are very concerned by the loss of our toilets when we have 150,000 visitors annually looking at the dolphins and a number of elderly in the villages for whom the toilets are essential to allow them to get out and about.”
Public meetings will be held shortly in the two villages to garner support for the development trust and move matters forward.