Scotland world-famous North Coast 500 route has become a “nightmare” for residents and could create a “modern Highland clearances”, locals have claimed. Residents in nearby Sutherland have warned the area is “degenerating into a Disneyland theme park” and raised alarm at tourism plans to promote the route as part of a Scotland-wide “winter wonderland” campaign.
They say the tourist season already seems to last longer every year with “convoys of motorhomes” clogging the roads. Meanwhile, increased use of the scenic 516-mile NC500 as a rally course leaves the area smelling like a “petrol station”, they added.
Locals have written desperate letters highlighting their plight to politicians including First Minister John Swinney, tourism body Visit Scotland and NC500 Ltd, the firm that promotes the route. One signatory, Sutherland resident Susanne Ramacher-Schmitz, told the Record: “A monster has been created and it is completely out of control.”
In the letter, locals wrote: “As residents massively affected by the NC500 we are asking for urgently needed help and action. We are greatly concerned that it has been reported in newspapers that the NC500 is now being promoted as a worldwide rally course.
“As we all know, the NC500 has become a far too highly frequented route during the tourist season, which lasts longer and longer every year. It’s unthinkable if the new advertising of Scotland as a ‘Winter Wonderland’ has the same consequence. It is already a nightmare now with convoys of motorhomes.”
They continued: “In many Highland villages, the public road taken by the NC500 is a single track road, which is very narrow in places. There is no alternative route. It is the road for the school bus, the post van, all tourist vehicles and pedestrians, who can’t enjoy the luxury of a pavement.
“In such circumstances, we would have thought that a rally course would need at least some safety precautions, but there is nothing. The way it is, it is causing a danger to us, our children and livestock. If there is a rally they race through our villages at well over the legal speed limit.”
Residents added: “More and more, this area is degenerating into a Disneyland theme park for people who do not treat it in the way it needs. Many residents are becoming completely desperate. They are thinking of moving, leaving the place where they have lived for decades, where they have raised their children and where they have their businesses. Some say the NC500 is the modern version of the Highland Clearances.”
A spokesperson for NC500 Ltd said: “We have not been consulted or involved in the planning of car rally events around the North Coast 500 route. People are however free to travel the route as they wish, provided they remain respectful and abide by the law.”
Business minister Richard Lochhead said: “I am acutely aware of the pressures facing areas which are popular with visitors like the North Coast 500. This year’s draft Budget includes an extra £4million for the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund to help communities improve facilities on routes such as this.”
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