Motorists taking the High Road north on the A82 from the Stoneymollan roundabout at Balloch.
By Lucy Ashton
Now, a long stretch of the A82 – including the pass through Glencoe – is being covered by a new traffic order which will make stopping on one of Scotland’s most glorious roads illegal.
Stopping the car, such as to take a quick photograph or find a starting point for a walk in the hills, is now outlawed with drivers now facing a fixed penalty fine.
Top picture: The junction which splits the A82 and A83 routes at Tarbet, Loch Lomond
Car parks crammed as first summer tourists head north
People are once again free to travel across Scotland and, while the tourism industry is ready to embrace their business, many fear that a rise in numbers will cause problems.
When the first lockdown eased last year, parts of the West Highlands quickly became busier than ever, with traffic on the North Coast 500 scenic route up 10 per cent on previous years.
Hotelier Dave McBain said: “There were bottles, rubbish, tents left behind and even human excrement.”
Mr McBain says it’s locals such as himself and his neighbours who are left to pick up the pieces once “irresponsible” tourists move on.
“Somebody has to pick up the rubbish, somebody has to pick up the broken bottles, somebody has to put their own health at risk because they have been a bit irresponsible,” he said.
Ferry shipyard made £100m loss in months after takeover
Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Holdings Ltd was nationalised in August 2019 following its collapse into administration after its ferry-building endeavours were dogged by delays and overspends.
It had been contracted to deliver two vessels for CalMac for £97m, with an initial completion date set for 2018.
But the vessels, referred to as 801 and 802, are not now expected to be completed until 2022 and 2023 respectively, with the cost having almost doubled.
The nationalised deal was done for the SNP government by disgraced Finance Secretary Derek Mackay, pictured right, who resigned and disappeared from Holyrood the night before the budget.Ferguson Marine director Tim Hair said the loss did not reflect the performance of the shipyard.
He told the [Glasgow] Herald it was based on “the auditor’s view of the contractual arrangements in place at the time the shipyard was brought into public ownership”.
Mr Hair’s salary is a cool collecting £790,000 a year.n the enterprise for the Scottish Government, the Herald reported.
In a damning report in December 2020, MSPs said the procurement of the boats from the Ferguson Marine yard in Port Glasgow was “a catastrophic failure”.
The MSPs on the committee inquiry found that the procurement process was “not fit for purpose”.