Developers behind controversial plans for a £40million tourist resort in Balloch have rubbished claims that new planning laws will put a halt to the plans.
Last week Green MSP for the West of Scotland, Ross Greer, claimed that new National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) legislation, passed by the Scottish Government, would give the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park authority “power to confidently reject the Flamingo Land application”.
If approved, the resort would include a water park, monorail, swimming pool, hotel, lodges and eateries.
Flamingo Land, which is behind the plans, say they have made “significant amendments” to original proposals for the land at West Riverside, which were withdrawn in 2019 after more than 60,000 public objections.
Developers estimate that Lomond Banks could bring more than 200 jobs to the area, and have signed a legally binding commitment to pay the real living wage.
The new planning framework makes it much harder for environmentally damaging projects to be granted planning permission, with legal opinion sought by Greer arguing that Lomond Banks would fail to comply with the legislation.
Mr Greer said: “Flamingo Land’s plans to impose a huge tourist development on Balloch have always been a terrible idea, and thanks to Green action in Government we now have national planning policy which gives the National Park the power to confidently reject the application.
“A holiday park with hotels, woodland lodges and 372 more parking spaces is obviously not what we need when we’re facing a climate emergency and when local roads are already struggling.”
However, the claims have been dismissed by Lomond Banks chief Jim Paterson, who argues that the development exceeds social and environmental obligations.
Jim, the project’s development director, said: “We welcome the introduction of NPF4 as we aspire to create a world-class tourism facility that can act as an example of the best practice in sustainable development it was intended to promote.
“NPF4 sets out Scotland’s strategy on use of land and, in particular, considers climate change, nature recovery, inclusive growth, and the wellbeing economy.
“We have carefully considered our obligations under the new framework and have ensured our approach exceeds both our environmental and social obligations.
“The tourism industry enjoys considerable support within the framework, and we’re pleased to be investing with that level of policy support behind us.”
