Forestry funding will allow £140,000 improvement scheme on Camster road
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Work costing £140,000 is to be carried out on the Camster road as part of efforts to improve timber transport infrastructure.
The Caithness project is one of three in the Highlands that together have been awarded £535,000 by the government agency Scottish Forestry.
The funding, co-financed by Highland Council, will improve roads and add passing places, allowing timber wagons to carry large volumes of timber to market.
Scottish Forestry says the work will also ensure other road users can pass the timber lorries more safely.
The Camster work will improve some 3000m of weight-restricted road through resurfacing and adding passing places. This will allow harvesting access to two forests that are to be restored to peatland.
The road is forecast to carry 32,000 tonnes over the next decade.
The other projects receiving funding are at Tomdoun, in Glen Garry (£150,000), and Howford Bridge, near Nairn (£245,000).
The Tomdoun scheme is also co-funded by SSE and two forest owners. Improvements will be made to more than 12km of road through resurfacing and widening.
As with Camster, this road is expected to take 32,000 tonnes of timber over the next decade.
The Howford Bridge scheme will improve some 330m of road through strengthening and widening. At present, timber lorries going to a sawmill in Nairn can have difficulty passing other traffic on the southern approach to the bridge.
This road is expected to service 1,400,000 tonnes of timber transport over the coming decade.
Announcing the funding, Scotland's rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “Our forestry sector has an important part to play in reaching net-zero.
"I am pleased that the Scottish Government and local authorities are continuing to provide support to help the industry decarbonise, while also improving local transport networks. That is good for our forestry industry, strengthening its ability to get timber to market.
“But it is also good news for rural communities which are regularly affected by timber wagons using the same routes that local people use too. With the road improvement works planned, communities in the Highlands will be less affected.”
The cash is being allocated through the Strategic Timber Transport Fund, which is managed by Scottish Forestry, with funding support from Transport Scotland.
The funding also supports the Timber Transport Forum and regional timber transport project officers who provide liaison between local authorities, the timber industry and Scottish Government.
A total of £4 million is being awarded to a range of timber transport projects across Scotland.
