The other week, we held our final community consultation in Reay. During this period I have met fantastic members of the Caithness community, who have graciously given us their time to share their thoughts and ideas. Generally the feedback has been positive and those with concerns have been supportive in offering suggestions or alternatives- sometimes this has been the most helpful for us! Some of the concerns raised were surrounding preserving the environment for flora and fauna to continue to thrive along the coast. I was quite pleased to hear that our local environment was at the forefront of many people’s minds. We have quite a good working relationship already from the John O’Groats Trail with various organisations who would be best able to advise us on this, I hope once we have a defined route I can approach them for their expertise and input. One of our goals is to create a trail that can be enjoyed by all, this includes the plants and wildlife who already inhabit the coast line.
Over the next few weeks I will be collating feedback we received, and utilising this to make the next steps in developing a more firm route for the trail- come and say Hi if you see us out and about exploring the coast!
If you haven’t managed to attend a community consultation, but have suggestions for us or own land along the coast it is not too late to get in touch! I am always up for a chat so please do reach out.
Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who attended the community consultations, you have all helped to shape the North Coast Trail. I appreciate you giving up an afternoon to come have a natter, the conversations and stories shared have been a real highlight of this experience.