Achi news desk-
Considerable effort was needed over the next three years to secure public and private funding and support for the holiday resort and strict conditions were set to ensure that there was as little impact as possible on the landscape which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.
Despite the controversy surrounding the development for many years, the considerable effort and hard work finally paid off when the Nevis Range opened to the public on 19 December 1989.
Around 200,000 people now turn off the A82 to enjoy the resort’s wide range of adrenaline-filled activities and experiences, including its mountain gondola and bike hire. A new hotel was added last year which quickly attracted an occupancy rate of 98%.
The man who pushed hard for the Nevis Range to happen is now in his eighties but Ian ‘Spike’ Sykes hopes others will fight for something he believes could be even more transformative for the area .
Lochaber is one of five areas in Scotland in the running to become Scotland’s new national park.
Locations in the Scottish Borders, Galloway, Loch Awe and Tay Forest are also being assessed for suitability with a final decision expected in the summer.
The UK has 15 National Parks and only two of these are in Scotland but not everyone would like to see the number increase north of the border.
The Lochaber National Park NO More campaign group says the money would be better spent on infrastructure, citing the 20-year delay in refurbishing Belford hospital.
There were accusations that the consultation process was flawed and inconsequential and concerns about additional bureaucracy for landowners and much of the cost of the project was made – the Scottish Government’s 2023-24 combined budget allocation for the Loch Lomond & Trossachs and Cairngorms National Park Authority. The National Park Authority was £20.9 million.
While the national parks plan was brought forward under the now-collapsed Bute House Agreement with the Greens, Mr Sykes, who co-founded outdoor clothing store Nevisport, says he hopes the SNP will get on with it and that he will live to see it implemented. in his adopted home.
He said most people are not aware of the benefits it could bring.
“There are some very vocal antagonists against it,” said Mr Sykes. “I think it’s mostly about an extra layer of bureaucracy and what not.
“We must try to get the local community behind it and see that there is a lot of good that can come out of it.
“There was an attempt to do it [in Lochaber] a long time ago and nobody showed any great interest in it and it went out of business and I think that’s part of the problem.
“It’s difficult because Fort William is not quite like the rest of the Highlands. Most of the Highlands were [always] quite liberal but Gaer was this small industrial area and they never got on as well as the rest of the Highland Council.
“[But] I rather suspect Lochaber is a bit behind the game,” added Mr Sykes, whose Nevisport chain started with a “small climbing shop” in Fort William and grew into a multi-million pound empire .
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“I certainly think some of the other areas are better organized but in my opinion, I think if we’re not very careful, the Highlands are being left behind ,” he said.
Action to Protect Rural Scotland refers to the investment that Scotland’s other two national parks have attracted following the designation.
Over the past twenty years the Cairngorms National Park Authority alone has brought over £24M to the area (on top of core government funding) and has recently been awarded a further £10.7M in grant funding towards the Cairngorms 2030 project which focus on climate and sustainability.
The Park Authority said more than 2,000 houses had been built since 2003, including hundreds of affordable houses built over the past few years with investment in much-needed ranger services and visitor infrastructure.
“I think about all the trouble there has been in the Cairngorms and the troubles they have had there, the Spey Valley has developed,” said Mr Sykes, who lives in Tor Castle, near Fort William.
“The Aviemore was a basket case 15 years ago and it is a very nice place now. It has become a very popular tourist destination.
“The farmers have done very well because they are fixing their fences and their roads are better.
“We need a new hospital and God knows what else and I think attracting a national park to the area draws attention to it and helps bring other things to it.
“I suspect that what we should do if the Borders get it, is stick to our guns and keep pushing for it,” added Mr Sykes, who was awarded an MBE in 1990 for services to climb.
Chris O’Brien, managing director of Nevis Range said a new hotel was added because Fort William did not have the equipment to accommodate the number of visitors the resort is bringing to town.
“There is a shortage of hotels here and you just have to look at the Spey Valley,” said the former director.
“There is a load of accommodation there and hotels have developed and there is a standard.”
He said Fort William was surrounded by “beautiful countryside” but the town itself needed a lot of investment.
Earlier this week the owners of Lecht Ski Center in the Cairngorms warned that it may have to close due to a lack of snow.
Its operators say “desperate” times mean they are launching a crowdfunding appeal to raise £35,000 by selling lift passes so the center can open for 2025.
“I thought when we got the skiing going it would transform the town,” said Mr Skyes, “but unfortunately the weather hasn’t been great in recent years.
“Skiing has always been a struggle and probably the biggest problem was the arrival of cheap flights to the continent. It was cheaper to go skiing in France or Italy than it was to come from Birmingham to Fort William.
“When we opened Nevis Range loads of buses came up every weekend from Newcastle and places like that but now I’m not sure when the last bus of skiers came up from the south.
“It has become a local ski and I think the Gaer is dying because of some kind of development.”
A keen mountaineer, and as a young man he was in the RAF Mountain Rescue Section when he was stationed at Kinloss in 1959.
He founded Nevisport in 1970 with Ian D Sutherland while they were both at Lochaber Mountain Rescue and were dissatisfied with the poor selection of climbing equipment found in existing UK shops.
Four years later, the store had to move to larger premises and subsequently opened a second store in Glasgow to cope with its success, growing to become one of the country’s leading specialist outdoor retailers.
“The Ben is a wonderful mountain and it’s covered in rubbish,” said Mr Sykes, who was appointed MBE in 1990 for services to mountaineering and also founded Nevis Radio.
“If we had a national park with lots of people working for the park and improving things and redoing the paths I think it would develop the area wonderfully.
“I started my climbing days in the Lakes and it got smashed, it was rubbish and now it’s got massive traction and it’s not ruined in many ways.
“There are large numbers in the towns and villages but the Lakes are in great condition and I hate to see our beautiful area overwhelmed and not looked after.
“I guess I don’t get to see but I’d love to see it start,” said Mr Skyes who sold the Nevisport chain in 2004.
He says national park status could also lead to much-needed investment in the A82, which runs from Glasgow to Inverness.
The road was widened in 2015 at Loch Lomond as part of a £9 million improvement program but it is still extremely narrow in parts and there is regular congestion in the peak season.
“We have Loch Lomond, Glen Coe, Ben Nevis, Loch Ness you name it – all the things that would attract tourists on the worst blooming road you could imagine,” he said.
“When we opened Nevis Range [in 1989] they thought they would make it up the road within the next five years and here we are.
“I think if something isn’t done about it – and I’m not sure what would be done – but the national park at least seems to be a good start to change things.”
