Outlander Devil's Pulpit revamp agreed despite planning fears
- Published
Controversial plans for a 150-space car park and visitor centre at a beauty spot made famous by the TV series Outlander have been given the go ahead.
Finnich Glen in Stirlingshire - also known as the Devil's Pulpit - attracts up to 70,000 visitors a year.
The sandstone gorge has also featured in the Netflix film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and The Nest.
However, its popularity has caused major road traffic issues and fears about erosion of the site.
The £2.7m revamp, which currently has no start date, will include a car park, visitor centre and café, toilets and a shop.
Bridges will also be built at the attraction to aid access.
Stirling councillors approved the plans on Tuesday despite planning officers at the local authority recommending they be refused.
They had argued that the buildings planned for the site were too big and the proposals would "significantly, irrevocably impact the unique landscape of the Finnich Glen natural environment".
Iain Cram, director of Bell Ingram Design - the architect behind the development - said the plans aimed to alleviate the major traffic issues at the site caused by the large number of visitors.
He described current access to the gorge as "scary" and said he had seen people coming up with "toddlers in their hands" wearing inappropriate footwear.
"Something desperately needs done about that," he added.
"The first proposal is for a 150-car car park which will provide space for the peak visitors that we would anticipate.
"There will also be a path network around the gorge because there's a huge amount of erosion at the moment caused by pedestrians making their own way through the glen," he said.
Mr Cram denied the proposals would spoil the site and said they would protect it from the "swarms of people who were already compromising the area".
Stirling Council temporarily closed the site in July because of the number of cars parked along the road illegally, blocking access to emergency vehicles.
It has also complained about the volume of rubbish left by some visitors to the area.