20 hours Ago By Katharine Hay
Reaching almost a decade in the making, Flamingo Land finally had its wings clipped this week after plans for the mega-resort in Loch Lomond were rejected. The result from what has been described as a “David and Goliath” planning battle by co-leader of the Scottish Greens Patrick Harvie, saw local people and environment campaigners celebrate the outcome. But is it really the end for this major tourism development at West Riverside and Woodbank House in Balloch? After the decision, ruled by the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA), Jim Paterson, from the developer Lomond Banks, said the applicant continues to remain “fully committed to the process” following this week’s outcome.
Mr Paterson said: “We believe we have a really strong case as this is a responsible investment that will create many opportunities for the area and Scotland as a whole.” It sounds like by remaining “fully committed to the process”, the application may not be well and truly over. LLTNPA confirmed Lomond Banks does have three months to appeal the decision.
It’s not the first time the application has been rejected. Plans were first submitted in 2018. After immediate local opposition and an online petition that garnered more than 55,000 signatures, it withdrew the initial plans, but in 2020 it returned with an updated £40m proposal.
There was anger in April when West Dunbartonshire council did not oppose the development, but then the LLTNPA recommended against approval. Lomond Banks said at this point, it has no further update on its next steps, and would not reveal whether or not it would lodge an appeal. The planning application was thrown out by the LLTNPA with the board citing concerns about flood risk, the loss of areas of ancient woodland and conflict with the national park’s primary aim of conservation.
But as with some large-scale planning planning applications, there is the chance the developer could return with a slimmed-down version of the development, which addresses flooding concerns and downgrades the size of the resort. This was recently seen with a luxury lodge development at Rutherford Park near West Linton in the Scottish Borders which saw an initial plan from 2019 of more than 250 lodges plus camping downsized to 79 luxury lodges this year. Flamingo Land was poised to bring a monorail, waterpark, two hotels, more than 100 self-catering lodges, restaurants and 372 car parking spaces to the banks of one of Scotland’s most popular lochs.
But with a total of 174,946 objections to the latest proposal, believed to be the largest number of planning objections in Scotland ever, spurred on by the Scottish Greens who helped locals navigate the “daunting” planning process, Flamingo Land may finally take flight for good. The seven-year process has thrown up questions on job prospects in the region, with pleas to back such a development by heritage charity, The Loch Lomond Steamship Company, Friends of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs and a local minister who said poor job prospects caused “misery”. Asked if the LLTNPA will look at fresh proposals to promote loch tourism to appease backers of resort plans, a spokesperson for the board said it had no comment at this stage as the potential of an appeal could still take place.
LLTNPA did, however, point to its five year National Park Partnership Plan (from 2024 to 2029) which includes commitments to improving infrastructure in the park for tourists..
