The new Kinloch Loo is open

During the 2023 Community Meetings, it was suggested that we needed to better-manage summer visitors and their vehicles, especially in Meavaig. The North Harris Eagle Observatory has drawn up to 9000 people each year, since it was opened over 10 years ago. This puts great pressure on the land at the head of the bay (Kinloch) at Meavaig North. In recent years, there have been more reports from the community of “wild toileting” along the track and at the Observatory. Children and pets haven't always been able to avoid it.

We hired-in a portaloo for 6 weeks during the summer of 2023. Whilst providing welcome relief to  visitors, it required a lot of staff maintenance and cost -so was never going to work longer term. This year, we finally managed to get the money together for a more permanent solution.

Just before Easter, we opened the new Kinloch Loo. The toilet is completely off-grid, with no water, electric or sewerage connection. These connections proved prohibitively expensive. Instead we have a Natsol ZD2 toilet, which came with recommendation from our colleagues at Galson Trust. It has a large holding tank, that we expect to only empty once a year.

The toilet is located on the top car park, which we have extended and improved. There’s now formal parking for a further 12 vehicles, with half of the bays being over-sized for vans. We’ve also marked out the spaces with wooden rails to prevent it all going wrong when one large vehicle parks in the middle.

With no electricity and intermittent 4G coverage, we have been unable to find a payment system that will work for us. A donation post has been installed, and we will hope this year, that donations will cover the cost of cleaning until a better solution is found.

This project was funded by the Trust with the help of Crown Estate Regeneration Fund (20%) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (44%).