Loch Lomond to charge for car parking

Published on Saturday 6 March 2010 19:20

ONE of Scotland's most popular visitor destinations is to introduce car parking charges in an attempt to prevent traffic gridlock.

The authority which manages the Loch Lomond area will introduce the levies in the summer to encourage daytrippers to leave their cars behind.

During peak summer weekends parts of the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, Scotland's first national park, is prone to severe gridlock.

But critics have described the move as a "money-grabbing exercise" that will be poorly received by tourists.

The introduction of parking charges forms part of the most ambitious overhaul of the National Park Authority's (NPA) direction in its eight-year history.

As revealed by Scotland on Sunday last year, park officials are planning to ban camping in three beauty spots in an attempt to eradicate violence and vandalism, an issue that is currently subject to public consultation.

By introducing charging for car parks, the NPA believes it can further crack down on misbehaviour while at the same time better managing its five million annual visitors.

Grant Moir, the NPA's head of conservation and visitor experience, described the scheme as a "sustainable method of revenue generation" that will hopefully change the habits of visitors.

The NPA will look at charging for each of the 16 car parks it owns or manages but intends to concentrate first on the east shore of the loch, where the traffic problems are greatest.

Wary that some motorists will react by parking on roadside verges, the NPA also intends closing off "informal" parking areas.

Moir said: "We're looking first at the east shore and the Duncan Mills memorial slipway, which are the more popular car parks. But there's a few, such as Kilmahog, where we probably won't ever charge, as they are too remote and not heavily used."

At present, the main rural car park at Luss, owned by Argyll & Bute Council, charges motorists, and manages to raise around 80,000 a year.

While the NPA's levels of charging have yet to be agreed, it is understood they will follow the prices set by the Lake District NPA, which runs car parks in places like Windermere, Ullswater, and Hawkshead.

During the peak summer season, visitors pay a minimum of 1.50 for an hour's parking up to 6.50 for up to 12 hours. Weekly passes are 25.

Peter Spinney, chair of the Association of British Drivers in Scotland, said the NPA was motivated solely by money.

Spinney, from Milngavie, said: "The park authority is a disgrace, and the whole thing is a money-grabbing exercise, and it will in no way please tourists visiting the park.

"I simply do not appreciate the way the NPA is being run. It is supposed to be about conservation, but they are not looking after the park in the way that Holyrood intended."

But Peter Jack, chair of the Loch Lomond Association, said visitor numbers were becoming overwhelming.

"The NPA has to find ways, some of which might not be all that popular, to manage the situation. The road is becoming completely impossible during summer," Jack said.