Wester Ross elects new MSPs, and a visit from the Princess Royal

Welcome to another packed edition of the Wester Ross Round-up. Each week we do our best to distil down the important local news from the clickbait and the promotional puff pieces. This week a record 1194 people have opted to get our newsletter. If you'd like to join them, tap the button below to get on the list. It's free!

🟡 Following the Scottish Parliament elections last week, Wester Ross has a new slate of MSPs. Maree Todd lost her constituency seat to Liberal Democrat David Green. However she was returned to the Scottish Parliament as one of the Highlands and Islands regional list MSPs along with:

• Vic Currie (Reform)
• Ariane Burgess (Scottish Greens)
• Tim Eagle (Conservative)
• Max Bannerman (Reform)
• Morven-May MacCallum (LibDem)
• Kristopher Leask (Scottish Greens)

🟡 The Princess Royal has been visiting a number of places in Wester Ross, including Aultbea Hall, where she unveiled a plaque opening the revived hall, The Old School, Inverasdale, where she met Wester Loch Ewe Trust volunteers, the Arctic Convoy Museum, the Bakkafrost aquaculture facility at Applecross, Applecross Community Hall, and Kishorn Port. More photos from her visit can be found below. If you took any photos from the royal visit and would like to share them with us you can send them to us using this form.

🟡 STV News covered the Princess Royal's stop at Kishorn Port. More: YouTube

🟡 The Royal visit was not entirely without controversy though. The Green Britain Foundation called on the Princess to cancel her visit to the Bakkafrost salmon farming facility at Applecross, highlighting that, "more than 10 million salmon have died at Applecross in the last five years, making it the worst performing salmon farming site for mortalities in Scotland and Britain’s deadliest factory farm." More: Green Britain Foundation

As the photos here show, the visit nevertheless went ahead. Ian Laister, managing director of Bakkafrost Scotland, said: “We were honoured to welcome Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal and proud to showcase the people, technology, and community partnerships behind this facility.”

🟡 Meanwhile at the Poolewe Hotel actor Toby Jones was spotted at the bar. More: Facebook

🟡 SSEN has said that planned full night-time road closures on the A832 near Dundonnell have been re-scheduled for late August 2026. The works had been set to start in June. Two more local meetings are planned to provide locals with updated information on the plans. They will both be held on Monday June 8:

• 16:00 – 18:00 at Aultbea Hall, IV22 2JR
• 19:00 – 21:00 at Badcaul Church, Dundonnell, IV23 2QY

More info from Cllr Kraft: Facebook

🟡 The Ewebrew Tap Room got the green light from council planners to open just after we published Issue 9 of the Gairloch and District Times. Since then the new venue in the Poolewe Village Hall annexe has been open and welcoming customers. We published this story for our paying subscribers with all the details.

Ewebrew gets the go-ahead to open Poolewe Tap House

The new venue, which will showcase Ewebrew beers along with other locally produced food and drink, is to open all year round.

Gairloch And District TimesAlly Tibbitt

🟡 Highland Council want your views on proposals to implement a Short Term Let Control Zone that would cover all of Wester Ross. More: Highland Council

🟡 Last week we reported local concerns over the provision of Health Visitor services in the Gairloch area. We asked Highland Council for a comment. They said: "At present, all general health visiting services are being maintained and it remains our priority to ensure that children and families receive the support they need. 

"Recruitment to the permanent Health Visitor post is actively underway.  We want to reassure everyone that no family who needs support will be left without access to health visiting services, and we are committed to maintaining safe, effective care while recruitment is completed."

🟡 Two Wester Ross young people (Full transparency: one of them is related to your newsletter editor), are running the Edinburgh Half Marathon on May 24. They're raising cash for the Teenage Cancer Trust and could do with some help reaching their £1000 fundraising target. You can pitch in here: Justgiving.com

Events

Each issue of our paper has a comprehensive What's On guide to the area. These are just the late entries or the latest ones we've spotted. If you have an event you'd like us to promote tell us about it here.

🟡 There's a plant sale in Lochcarron this afternoon. Details in the flyer below.

🟡 Tickets for Sarah McQuaid at Gairloch Community Hall on May 16 and The Sorries at Aultbea Hall on May 30 are on sale now. More: West Coast Arts

🟡 Coigach Community Rowing Club are holding a ceilidh at Coigach Hall on May 16. More: Facebook

🟡 The next Gairloch Primary School Parent Council meeting is on May 18: More: Facebook

🟡 On Tuesday May 26, primary schools in the Gairloch High catchment are holding their annual inter-school cross country race at Flowerdale. However, the race can only go ahead if there are enough volunteer marshals to keep the children safe. If you can volunteer on the day contact Jennifer MacIver via your local school. More: Facebook

🟡 On Saturday June 6, there is an event planned at Ullapool to celebrate local outdoor events, activities and providers. More info in the flyer below.

🟡 June 20 is when the next Re-loved Clothing Fair will take place in Ullapool. More: Facebook

🟡 On Friday July 10, Gairloch Library is hosting two Climate Conversations. One session is for children, and one is for adults and teens. More: Facebook

🟡 And it's a long way in the future, but Scottish Opera have announced that they'll be bringing Hansel and Gretel to Ullapool in the Autumn of 2026 and Gairloch in the spring of 2027. More: Scottish Opera

More news

🟡 ScotRail have announced changes to their timetable. The good news is that there is now an extra train in each direction on the Kyle line on a Sunday, at least until September. More: ScotRail

🟡 The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) said the crew of an air ambulance made a "safe but unexpected" landing in Loch Torridon due to local weather conditions last week. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. More: BBC News

🟡 Wester Ross Fisheries Trust have been granted planning permission to install four interpretation panels along the coast at Laide. More: Highland Council

🟡 Today Highland Councillors will vote on a proposal to allocate £1m to help revitalise over 2,400 long-term vacant homes in the area. If agreed, grants of up to £30,000 for repairs will be available but property owners will be required to rent or occupy their homes for at least five years. More: BBC News

🟡 Ofcom have given the go ahead to Craoladh Digiteach Ionadail Ltd to invest an estimated £31k into developing a local DAB radio service that will initially cover Loch Broom. Wester Ross Radio may be one of the stations that will be broadcast on it when it is up and running. More: Ofcom (pdf)

🟡 Football: Gairloch Aultbea United lost 4-1 to Ardersier recently. Match report: Facebook

🟡 Fèisean nan Gàidheal has announced that applications for Fuaran 2026 are now open. The project offers young people, aged 16 – 25, the opportunity to research Gaelic songs and heritage related to their own region, their own family or of other significance to them. More: feisean.org

🟡 Applecross Community Council have congratulated Judith Fish MBE from Applecross Inn who has been named new food and drink ambassador for the region. Judy was named Ambassador of the Year at the 20th Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Awards. More: Facebook

🟡 And lastly, the Gairloch Coastal Rowing Club took a trip to Shieldaig to join a fun race around the island there. Here's a video of them all setting off: Facebook