A new £4.6m timber haulage route which removes 10,000 lorry movements every year from Eskdalemuir is to be officially opened on July 20.
The project, led and managed by UPM Tilhill on behalf of private forest owners, Forestry Commission Scotland and the local authority, will ensure the future of the £5m annual turnover Eskdalemuir timber industry. It will also reduce traffic and improve life for local communities.
“It is a showcase project that will serve as an ideal model of how government and the private sector can work together to help the timber industry develop more sustainable ways of working,” said Bob McIntosh, director of Forestry Commission Scotland.
The project received £2.9m grant funding, with a further £1.7m from Dumfries and Galloway Council, the Forestry Commission and UPM Tilhill.
