Too much of a good thing? Or walk (don’t drive) the 500 miles

You may have seen that the residents of the Applecross Peninsula are to be asked to vote on whether it should remain on the NC 500 route. Having been to Applecross many times, and enjoyed what the Applecross Inn can over after a wonderful drive and bracing walk, I know the beauty that the peninsula offers. But, like much of the NC500 route, the roads aren’t designed for significant volumes of ordinary traffic – let alone convoys of motorbikes, motorhomes and the rest.

Inevitably, we look at this through local eyes, but it is in fact a worldwide phenomenon. Try Googling “queues at Everest”. Or, in you have been to Machu Picchu, you’ll know all about the queues for the bus to the top (although hopefully you didn’t suffer the thunderstorm that we did). And as for trying to move in Venice….
The only current change is that many of the NC’ers will be from the UK while Covid restricts travel abroad, but the beauty of our scenery will mean that people will come.

So – do we want to encourage or restrict? Would we prefer to have fewer, but wealthier people who would (we hope) spend more locally (which sounds a bit like a return to a Victorian ethos) or welcome everyone who comes, regardless of budget, but try to get them to act “more responsibly” (which sounds a bit nanny-ish)?
Experience from the rest of the world tells us that there are no easy answers – sorry. Short of restricting access to visitors somehow (which goes against the grain) then if we tell the world what a jewel we have on our hands, isn’t it reasonable to expect the world to come?

Let’s be positive. Yes, the motorhomes are a pain. Yes, the squalor left after irresponsible wild camping and so on is dreadful. But, isn’t it great to see so many “no vacancy” signs throughout our Highland & Islands communities? It may be very hard to get, and keep, workers throughout the Highlands – but bigger isn’t always better. Small businesses can be, and often are, proportionately more profitable than larger ones. And they’re rooted in their local communities, making them and their communities more sustainable in the long-term.

So, when you are thinking of that new business – a café, B & B, garage, whatever – come and have a chat. We can help with buying the premises, looking at terms of business, dealing with planning issues – and most importantly, just being there as a sounding board.