Temporary toilets installed at local beauty spots ahead of summer

The facilities are currently available at Duck Bay and the Cobbler Car Park at the head of Loch Long in Arrochar.

Village visitor warden Douglas Campbell from Succoth is pictured alongside the temporary toilets recently installed for the season at Arrochar (Image: The Friends of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs)

They were installed in April by The Friends of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs and will remain in place until October.

James Fraser, chair of The Friends, told the Reporter over 100,000 people are set to benefit from this move.

He said: "I am very pleased we have managed to secure funding from public and private sector partners to provide temporary toilets at these busy sites again for this tourist season which is already shaping up to be very busy with large influxes of overseas and UK visitors.

“Based on surveys undertaken last year it is anticipated these temporary toilets will be used by well over 100,000 visitors this year and there is clearly a need to provide more permanent toilets at these sites which are both beside very tourist routes and are popular in their own right with visitors getting their first glimpse of Loch Lomond at Duck Bay Picnic Area and being able to gain access to the busy Cobbler Mountain from Arrochar.’’

The “much-needed” toilets are being jointly funded by the National Park, Argyll & Bute Council, the Hannah Stirling Loch Lomond Trust, and The Friends visitor giving scheme.

Staff from the Duck Bay Hotel & Restaurant will be regularly cleaning the toilets at their visitor site and stocking them with toiletries.

The facilities are being sponsored in kind by The Cawley Group and Sam Newell of Honeywagon.

Duncan MacLachlan, chair of the Arrochar and Tarbet Development Trust, added: "These temporary toilets are playing a vital role in meeting the basic needs of visitors at these popular visitor sites.

"I am grateful to the various funders for contributing to this welcome collaborative effort being led by the Friends again.

“Hopefully, with support from the VisitScotland Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund more permanent toilets and other improvements at these visitor hotspots can be progressed soon as we have proven beyond all doubt over the last three years that there is a need for these basic visitor infrastructure improvements at these two sites which between them attract over 500,000 visitors annually.’’

The Friends were however unsuccessful in a recent bid to secure funding from the NatureScot Green Recovery grant scheme.

The funding would have allowed the group to provide an expanded village warden scheme in Luss, Arrochar, and Tarbert – as these villages experience a high level of visitors.