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Eilean Donan Castle said the signal from the Scottish Government that tourism might be able to restart by July 15 had “come as something of a surprise” and that while the prospect of re-opening was “welcome” it vowed it will only open its doors when it it 100 per cent satisfied it is safe to do so.

The comments came after the Scottish Government said that the sector might be able to reopen from the coronavirus lockdown on July 15 – subject to efforts to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to quash the spread of the virus.

Eilean Donan Castle is keen to stress that it will only re-open once it is safe to do so . They have spent 3 months re-organising the way they do business in order to ensure the safety of its visitors .

And in a statement issued on its Twitter account this afternoon, a spokesman for Eilean Donan Castle said: “Yesterday’s Scottish Government announcement signalling that Scottish tourism could potentially restart as soon as July 15 came as something of a surprise.

“Whilst we welcome the prospect of re-opening we do have concerns as to the timing of such a move.

“Much of our last three months has been spent developing comprehensive operational systems, procedures and protocols to safeguard the welfare of our staff, our community and our visitors alike. However it is important to stress that regardless of others’ directives, we will only reopen when we are 100 per cent certain that every conceivable precaution has been explored, considered and implemented to protect every single person that comes to Eilean Donan and our self-catering apartments.

“Before we open our doors to anyone, we shall publish full details of those new protocols on our websites and our social media channels. The operation will look very different to what we offered prior to Covid-19, and would welcome your fullest co-operation should you be planning a visit in the months ahead.

The owners of Eilean Donan Castle , the Conchra Charitable Trust , have announced plans to extend the existing seasonal overspill car park near to Eilean Donan Castle.

The extension of the car park sits on the opposite side of the A87 to the castle, and close to the Eilean Donan Apartments.

The proposals would increase the number of available spaces at the overspill site to around 79 –including four disabled parking spots.

Transport Scotland has not yet objected to the plans at this stage, but stressed that the overspill’s location on the opposite side of the A87 would increase the number of pedestrians crossing the busy trunk road to reach the castle, and it needed more information.

In a submission to Highland Council, the roads authority said: “With around 80 car parking spaces, this proposal will generate significant footfall between the proposed car park and Eilean Donan Castle and Visitor Centre.

“To allow further consideration of this application, Transport Scotland will require the applicant to identify and undertake an assessment of the existing pedestrian routes between the two locations and advise how they would propose to safely accommodate pedestrian crossing movements on the A87.”

Historic Environment Scotland has raised no objection.

The applicant also plans to plant native trees and shrubs to screen the car parking.

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