EDWARD MOUNTAIN: Innovation needed to tackle motorhomes issues in the Highlands
From afar, it could seem like people across this part of the Highlands don’t like tourism very much.
The main source of news coverage is the North Coast 500, and the copy is rarely positive.
And understandably so; the problems which accompany this increasingly popular tourist feature are mounting, and those charged with solving these issues are falling short.
That’s why I wanted to gather people, businesses and experts together to discuss a way forward.
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Last week in Wick, we did exactly that at the Let’s Talk Tourism event.
Dozens of people came from across the region to share their experiences and, in many cases, their exasperation at the situation.
They also put forward solutions and some great ideas for the future.
The overwhelming takeaway was this: we like tourism, and recognise it is extremely important for jobs, opportunities and the wider Highland economy. In some areas, tourism accounts for up to 50 per cent of local employment.We don’t just want to tourism to work, we need it to.
But there are some things which need to change.
Much of the discussion surrounding the NC500 was the role of motorhomes.
Delegates estimated around three-quarters of motorhomes when visiting the area stayed in approved campsites and generally behaved well, showing respect to the area they’d made great efforts to come and visit.
It’s the quarter who don’t stay in campsites who rile the residents.
They pitch up in church car parks and clog up lay-bys.
One panellist, Vikki Brightman, who runs a facility near Wick, allows passing homes to stop by, use the facilities and dispose responsibly of their “grey waste” for a small fee.
There should be more of this, and the general consensus was this was innovative and helpful both to locals and visitors.
The council’s attempts, in good faith, to come up with a solution have been less impressive.
The Campervan and Motorhome scheme costs £40 and grants tourists seven days of facility and car park use in the area.
However, it was brought in without consultation, is being abused, and is heavily unpopular with people in the area.
It was expensive, and one member of the audience suggested it could take decades to recover the costs to the taxpayer.
If the local authority is serious about increasing the onus of responsibility and respect on visitors, they need to fund a ranger service possessing the teeth of enforcement.
People and businesses want tourism to work and, for the most part, want to embrace it.
But we won’t be pushed around either – if it is going to work as an industry, it has to work first and foremost for those who facilitate it and have to live with it.
Some politicians question the benefit of holding sessions like I did in Wick last week.
But, having staged similar summits on the NHS and energy, I know well the value, and so do those who show up.
I can take their views and their concerns with me back down the road to Edinburgh and raise them directly with the government ministers who make the decisions, as well as the council chiefs in Inverness.
They’ll be left in no doubt about what’s going well and what isn’t.
When I revisit this topic on these pages in a few months’ time, let’s hope we can all see the difference.
