Limited tree felling and other works are underway at one of the major Pentland Hills entrance points this week.
The Harlaw Reservoir Car Park in Balerno is undergoing major renovations, including parking lot improvements and expansions. Developers will also install two zero discharge toilets to improve services.
On Monday, Pentland Hills Regional Park announced that the Harlaw car park would be closed from October 3 - October 7 at a minimum. The Regional Park said: “Please avoid the area if possible: there will be very limited parking available on the access track.”
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The car park improvements will include the removal of some mature trees. However, the park said that most are “due for harvesting” from the tree plantation, and the park ensured other trees will be planted in compensation.
“The only trees being removed are those north of the gas pipeline: this means that the much-loved woodland walk to the visitor centre will not be affected too much,” said Pentland Hills Regional Park.
It is hoped that the improvements will create a safer approach to the Harlaw car park.
In addition to works at Harlaw, the Flotterstone and Threipmuir car parks will also be improved in the future. Most of the improvements have been funded with £565,000 in funding from Visit Scotland's Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund.
It was previously reported that the funding would create 140 new car parking spaces plus four new unisex toilets at the three Pentland Hills hotspots.
A Friends of the Pentlands spokesperson said: “During the pandemic the Pentland Hills Regional Park convened a meeting to consider visitor management and the effects that increased access and antisocial behaviour was having on the hills, especially in the hotspots around Flotterstone, Harlaw and Threipmuir.”
“One of the several outcomes of that work was the award of funding and a coordinated programme to improve and manage responsible car parking. The enlargements are, as you notice, starting to take shape. It is inevitable that some tree clearing will have been necessary but, being in a conservation area, this is limited to the essential in order to minimise damage to the environment. Replacement tree planting will occur.”
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