FLAMINGO Land’s plans to develop on the banks of Loch Lomond would make traffic problems in the area “dramatically worse”, the Greens have said as they pointed to the developers’ own impact assessments.
The warning comes just days before the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority board issues its final decision on whether the theme park will be allowed to go ahead with its Lomond Banks proposals.
The plans – which have been recommended for refusal by park officials – would see a resort built at Balloch, including two hotels, 100 self-catering lodges, 21 apartments in a refurbished Woodbank House, a monorail, a waterpark, restaurants, a pub and craft brewery, and a retail area.
Locals have raised concerns about the impact on traffic congestion in the area, which is already notorious for long delays, especially around the A82 Stoneymollan roundabout.
Green MSP Ross Greer, who has been leading his party’s campaign against the development, pointed to assessments from engineering consultancy Stantec and commissioned by Flamingo Land about how the development could impact traffic.
One assessment, conducted in February, concluded that at maximum capacity 82 “passenger car units” (PCUs) could queue between the Stoneymollan roundabout and the nearby Old Luss Road roundabout – which under the development plans would become a key access point.
The assessment said that queues of 77 cars could be projected to occur between the two roundabouts. As this was five below maximum capacity, it concluded that "at no point will the queue extend back to the Stoneymollan roundabout junction".
Elsewhere, the assessment said the development could was “forecast to generate 146 two-way trips (arrivals and departures) during the weekday morning peak hour and 253 two-way trips during the weekday evening peak hour”.
“In addition, the proposed development is forecast to generate a total of 167 two-way trips during a Saturday peak hour,” it added.
In March, Lomond Banks said it had reached an agreement with Transport Scotland to address acknowledged “concern” around the impact of the development on congestion issues in the area.
Developers said they would ensure they were “directly supporting and prioritising Transport Scotland’s proposals for upgrades to the Stoneymollan roundabout” in a bid to ease congestion.
Greer said the extra traffic would make the congestion in the notoriously troublesome area “dramatically worse”.
“Cramming an extra 250 extra cars an hour onto already congested roads around the south and west of Loch Lomond would be disastrous for local residents, visitors and for the environment,” the West of Scotland MSP said.
“These ridiculous mega-resort plans would see Balloch overwhelmed on any day with a decent weather forecast. Local residents already struggle to get in and out of their own community on such busy days. Flamingo Land’s own traffic assessment shows that their plans would make the problems on and around the A82 dramatically worse.
“This report is yet another glaring reason why the park board must reject such daft plans on Monday. Not only would it be devastating for our local environment, it would also be harmful for the people who live in Balloch and other local communities.”
He added: “The park authority rightly say they want to reduce car journeys within the park, both to help tackle the climate crisis and to improve conditions on local roads. If approved, Flamingo Land would do the opposite.”
Jim Paterson, the development director for Lomond Banks, said: “We have engaged extensively with local residents and businesses over the past few years and have listened carefully to all concerns raised to ensure our proposals address these as much as possible.
“Transport issues around Loch Lomond pre-date our involvement and that is why we considered it vitally important to formalise a legally binding agreement with Transport Scotland to help prioritise its proposed upgrades for Stoneymollan roundabout to mitigate any impact, should our plans progress.
“All statutory consultees including the National Park Planning officers report are satisfied with the traffic impact assessments we have conducted.”
The national park board will issue its final decision on Monday September 16. Developers will still be able to appeal to Scottish Ministers if the plans are rejected.
The Greens have set up a petition opposing the plans which has gathered more than 150,000 signatures, but Paterson called that petition a “sham” and insisted there is “simply no way to validate the numbers”.
