National park bosses have called on developers behind controversial proposals for a major Balloch tourist resort to clarify details on woodland loss, traffic figures and parking spaces.
It comes after Flamingo Land submitted refreshed proposals for a major holiday park at West Riverside in May this year.
In a letter, planning officer Caroline Strugnell says a number of issues need to be addressed to enable Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority to reach a “conclusion on the significant effects of the proposed development on the environment”.
Among these are clarification of the routing of the John Muir Way through the development and proposed pedestrian/cycle connection through the Woodbank House site.
More information is also sought on the areas of proposed woodland loss and retention.
There is also a section on traffic and transport which asks for a number of details, including anticipated vehicle numbers entering and leaving Balloch, as well as clarity on whether certain areas of parking will be sufficient.
It also asks for clarity on parking numbers and the location of 35 parking spaces for the ‘staff and services area’.
Green MSP Ross Greer, who is critical of the plans, has warned of parking chaos should Flamingo Land be given the go-ahead.
The politician, whose online objection portal has contributed over 33,000 objections to the plans, recently submitted a detailed objection of his own, written by legal expert Ian Cowan.
As part of that submission, he claims there are a number of inconsistencies, one of which is parking provision.
He says the detail of the document contains at least one numerical error, and states the parking provision to be 393 spaces.
However, he states that the transport assessment submitted with the application sets out a method for calculating the number of parking places required for each part of the application - for example Woodland Lodges are said to require 1.5 spaces per lodge, and the Aparthotel requires one space for every 2.5 beds.
If this methodology is followed, Mr Cowan estimates the true parking requirement to be 553 spaces.
Mr Greer said: “This shambles is far more than a simple case of numbers not adding up.
“It shows that Flamingo Land’s plans will unquestionably worsen the existing traffic chaos around Balloch and up the west side of the loch.
“There is so much more which could be done to encourage visitors to leave their cars at home and use public transport, an issue I am following up with the National Park, Scottish Government and others.
“Flamingo Land’s car-based development would be a huge step backwards for local traffic levels and only make the congestion and emissions far worse.”
Flamingo Land say their plans have taken a “step forward” with the submission of the letter.
They say it has been welcomed by the Lomond Banks project team as an indication that the National Park is looking at the plans and scrutinising them carefully and thoughtfully.
Jim Paterson, Development Director for Lomond Banks, said: “Our commitment to shaping our plans around community and stakeholder feedback has been paramount throughout this application journey, so this feedback from the National Park is hugely valuable in aiding us to edit our plans further to fit the vision of the community, businesses, and the planning authority alike.
“We are steadfast in our plans for Lomond Banks, and we truly believe we can deliver something that Balloch and the wider area can greatly benefit from.
“We will now consider the further questions and requests and get to work on how best to respond to these in the coming weeks.
“We look forward to engaging in this process further and, working with our experts and partners, delivering on what has been asked of us.
“Likewise, the National Park has also asked us to make assurances around the location of the John Muir Way, which we will be happy to confirm.
“Providing access to such routes of national significance continues to be of vital importance to us all and we have maintained a strong position around this from the outset.”
