Port Henderson pods plan and phone box cull

Another week in paradise... it's another Wester Ross Round-up. Hopefully you are enjoying the sunny weather wherever you are. This week the newsletter is landing in 870 inboxes. If this is your first one - welcome. If you know of someone who might like this email please forward it on to them and encourage them to sign up.

🛖 A planning application for four holiday pods and a shop at Port Henderson has been lodged with planning officials. An image of what they might look like is at the top of this post. The developers say that the pods will provide "contemporary, luxury accomodation," and that the proposal will support three part-time jobs. Already one person has objected, arguing that the pods may set a precedent for further expansion, would be "very prominent on the hill," and "the quality of the design of the development will have an unacceptable impact on the natural environment." If you wish to submit a comment, you have until May 7. The council reference to look up is 25/00837/FUL.

☎️ BT is proposing to retire more than 100 public phone boxes throughout the Highlands. Among those likely to go is the public phone at Laide Post Office and another one at Gruinard Bay. There are also two in Lochcarron and one in Applecross that may be cut. If you want to make the case for retaining any of these phones, there's information on how to do it on the council website.

🍰 In cake news, Coffee and Bakes in Poolewe are open for the new season. You can find their opening hours on their Facebook page.

🍕 A new pizzeria, Oak and Grain, has opened in Ullapool after transforming the former Costcutter building, with owners Dan and Adele Connell bringing their wood-fired pizzas to a permanent location for the first time. Read more in the Rossshire Journal.

🥊 If you need to work off the cake or the pizza, Body Combat classes are starting up in Gairloch Leisure Centre from May 1. More here.

🎸 Musician Sarah McQuaid is playing a gig at Applecross Community Hall on Thursday May 15. You can get tickets on her website.

🎻 Loch Torridon Community Hall and Gairloch Museum are pooling their talents and organising a special joint Ceilidh House in Kinlochewe Village Hall on Saturday May 17.

🎣 If you fancy going fishing, the Gairloch Angling Club have got two boats in the water – and you don't need to be a member to use them. However you do need to hire them from the right place. The Loch Tollaidh (Tollie) (Gairloch end) boat is available to hire via Gairloch Filling Station. The Loch Bad na Scalaig boat is also available to hire from the Shop on the Pier .

🍻 The Community Pub at the Shieling will be closed from April 28th to May 4th inclusive, after a short trial run. Whilst the pub is closed GALE staff say they will be "reviewing feedback." Although there's no details of further opening hours they added in a Facebook post: "We can’t wait to welcome you back with exciting updates! Thank you for being a part of this journey with us!"

🏷️ There may still be tables available at the next Aultbea Hub table top sale if you have stuff to sell. Details in the flyer below.

👩‍💼 There are couple of jobs going in Gairloch. The Millcroft Hotel are hiring a live-in Assistant Manager. The job ad is on Gumtree here. The Gairloch Pharmacy are also looking for staff. For details on how to apply for that one see their Facebook Page.

💷 Several local projects have been awarded funding from the local council ward discretionary budget. Community Out West Trust - who operate the community toilets at Kinlochewe have been awarded £1250 towards refurbishment costs. The Wester Loch Ewe Trust have won £900 for the costs of cataloguing historic artefacts, and Welcome Ullapool are to receive £2386 towards the costs of replacing benches and picnic tables.

🍞 The North Highland Initiative has been thanked by local volunteers after making a £2000 donation towards this year's Community Christmas hampers.

❓The Loch Broom Community Benefit Fund is open for applications. You can find out more about how to apply and what they might support on their website.

🎓 Whilst it might be prudent to treat school league tables of any kind with a bit of scepticism - it turns out that Gairloch High School was one of only six Highland Secondary Schools to place in top 100 of the The Times Scottish High Schools league table. All 347 Scottish secondary schools are ranked by The Times (paywall), on the proportion of pupils that achieve five highers each year. Plockton was the top Highland secondary school this year - and the second "most improved in the country."

⚡ An interactive map showing all current and planned energy projects in The Highlands has been published by the council. View it here.

🚴‍♀️ On Saturday May 17 the Bealach Na Ba will be closed between 10:00 and 12:30 for the Bealach Na Ba Sportiv cycle race.

❄️ BEAR, the private contractor that manages the main road between Ullapool and Inverness has revealed it used 31,787 tonnes of salt last winter. On Saturday 11 January, their network saw a low of -12.5°C on the A835 at Altguish, just north of Garve.

🏕️ Scott McLennan in the Ross-Shire Journal reports that David Green, the Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP candidate for Caithness, Sutherland, and Ross, has called for Highland Council to bin a voluntary motor home pass scheme because of claims it undercuts legitimate camp sites. A similar story in The Scotsman, illustrated with a photo of the car park on Pier Road in Gairloch, reports on concerns about public bodies that operate informal stop-over sites for camper vans. These sites are not subject to the same fire safety rules as licensed campsites.

🪼And lastly here's a nice video of a Jellyfish in Gairloch Harbour courtesy of Gairloch Marine Wildlife Centre. If you see jellyfish you can support the work of the Marine Conservation Society by reporting sightings here.

PS Do you have something you'd like to share with the community? It could be a photo or two, a message of thanks, or a report from a local gathering. Send it to us using this form.