A DANGEROUS beauty spot visited by 70,000 people a year – after it featured in Outlander – will be made safe by a £2 million redevelopment plan, according to the team behind the proposal.
Visitors from the UK and abroad have been pouring into the narrow, 100ft deep Finnich Glen or Devil’s Pulpit gorge near Killearn in Stirlingshire in increasing numbers since it was used in the TV series in 2014.
Tourists have to scramble down crumbing broken stone steps, and mountain rescue teams have been called out a number of times in recent years to rescue people trying to get back out of the gorge.
Visitors also park in large numbers along a narrow nearby road, blocking access for emergency services. They then weave through the traffic on foot, and walk along an A-road with no proper footpath to reach
the glen.
Locals have long feared a serious accident will result from the hordes arriving with no suitable facilities. Landowner David Young says he wants to make the 25-acre site safe, and he also faces problems with people trampling fences, and leaving litter and human waste.
Stirling architects Bell Ingram have released details of plans they have drawn up for Young to develop the site as a tourist attraction, with toilets, a visitor centre and restaurant, footpaths, viewing platforms and bridges above the gorge, and a new wood-and-metal staircase to replace the 200-year-old stone steps used to access the bed of the gorge.
There will also be a 150-space car-park, which architect Iain Cram from Bell Ingram says will be free to use. An entrance fee will be charged to those wanting to see the gorge.
Cram said: “Parking has always been a top priority, and our plans centre around the creation of a 150-space car park which will eliminate the danger caused by people abandoning their cars along the grass verges.
“Visitor safety has always been of paramount importance so that’s why we have designed smart, sound paths and bridges which allow people to enjoy the views without going dangerously close to the edge of what is a 100ft gorge.
“Mountain rescue has seen a spike in the number of call-outs as people get stuck in the Glen. With this in mind we’ve included an emergency access stair for the mountain rescue team. This will give them fast access into the gorge, while at the same time avoiding damage to the plant life on the rock walls.”
If approved by Stirling Council, building work could start in the summer of 2021.
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