Church answers prayer after village tourist information centre is sold

A CHURCH has stepped in to provide tourist information in a picturesque Scottish village - after the previous visitor centre was taken over by a soap company.

Luss Parish Church has opened the office on the banks of Loch Lomond after the National Park Authority (NPA) announced in June that it could no longer afford to run it.

The facility in the village famous as the setting for the long- running Scottish soap opera High Road was costing the park authority 25,000 a year.

The NPA has handed the building over to local soap manufacturer Purdie's and will retain only a nominal tourist information presence there.

But after a community bid to retain the centre failed, the local church stepped in to offer part of its premises as a permanently staffed tourist office.

The kirk minister, Dr Dane Sherrard, said: "The area of Luss receives 750,000 people each year and the people who come here deserve to be welcomed. No-one else is doing that, or able to do that, and that's where we come in.

"We had some spare space in our Pilgrimage Centre, so we thought we'd give it a shot. There is a biblical message in welcoming strangers, and I can honestly say it has enriched the life of our church community too.

"The Church of Scotland has a long history of filling in the gaps - we did it with education and social work, and there's no reason why we can't do it with tourism."

A spokesman for the NPA said a recent review identified opportunities for commercial involvement. "Obviously, every government body is under pressure to do that. Luss visitor centre was identified as such an opportunity and the management of the business centre was put out to tender."

Luss Community Council was among those who made a bid for the premises, to keep it as a visitor centre. The NPA rejected it as being "not commercially viable in any way", despite overwhelming local support.

The move prompted local outrage, with the NPA accused by local MSP Jackie Baillie of "riding roughshod over the views of the community of Luss" and being "clearly driven by money and not community interest".

The church, which had been part of the community bid, decided to push ahead on its own. Three full-time employees will staff the centre, but will also call on what the church describes is "an army of volunteers".

Rev Sherrard said: "I can proudly say we have the only tourist information centre in Scotland which does not take any commission for arranging bed and breakfasts, but also drives people to their accommodation or campsite."

Luss Parish Church has a reputation for outreach work and innovative projects.It already shares its services online in more than 50 countries thanks to web- streaming services.

Although its tourist centre has been operational for a few weeks, the chairman of Visit-Scotland, Dr Mike Cantlay, is to make its role official today when he visits the centre to cut the red ribbon.

The NPA spokesman defended the decision to downgrade because it was "duty bound to go for the best option for it and the community".

"It's certainly in the interests of the visitors and making the best use of the facility," he added. "It's helping a local business, giving it a place to work from where there is a huge visitor footfall."

He also denied that the two centres would be operating as rivals. "If it enhances the visitor experience, if it's done properly and legitimately, then great. We've made leaflets available to it (the centre] and we're certainly not going to stand in its way. We're absolutely not prohibiting it in any way or putting any restrictions on it.

"We're just not able to carry out the same level of staffed visiting centre that we had previously."