A £1.5m masterplan for Tarbet pier beside Loch Lomond was revealed this week.
There would be grass terraces, space for community events and parking for coaches and motorhomes, as well as changes to the pier and helicopter access for mountain rescue teams.
The plan was announced today by Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, which says it is part of ‘a raft of improvements to visitor infrastructure’ across the park.
The path up Conic Hill above Loch Lomond will also see a £900,000 upgrade, while the bridge at Bracklinn Falls in Callander will be replaced.
A planning application for the Tarbet site has been submitted – the plans also include a cafe building, extended toilet block, parkland and a bus stop on the A82.
The work is due to start at the end of this year and aims to see the site become a ‘sustainable travel hub’.
The national park’s director of place Stuart Mearns said: “The national park is one of Scotland’s most popular visitor destinations and alongside ongoing work to support visitors, land managers and communities during the peak season, we are developing longer term plans to improve visitor services and infrastructure.
“These plans include upgraded facilities, paths and access routes, as well as projects which will over time ease visitor pressures and enable car-free travel.
“For each of these projects, and indeed any development work within the national park, gains for climate and nature are vital.
“At Tarbet, while we make structural improvements to alleviate visitor pressures, we will also be improving biodiversity at the site and helping visitors embrace low emission travel.”
The path up Conic Hill is currently closed until March 31, as a £900,000 package of works to repair and improve it gets under way – it is due to last three years.
Conic Hill is visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors every year and the national park says that the path is badly degraded.
A statement added: “It will be widened and strengthened to make it more robust, reduce impacts on nature, land management and livestock control and to ensure the hill can continue to be enjoyed in the years to come.”
Details of the Tarbet plan are on the national park website – the reference number is 2023/0011/DET.
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