Flamingo Land, a theme park operator, has appealed to the Scottish government after its £40m holiday resort plans near Loch Lomond were rejected twice. Scottish Enterprise has been criticised for extending an exclusivity deal with Flamingo Land for a section of land at the loch, which has enabled the possibility of a further appeal. Flamingo Land’s plans for its Lomond Banks resort consist of a monorail, waterpark, hotel and restaurants. The application was denied for a second time in September, due to concerns such as flood risk, increased traffic and impact on local businesses, and for failing to comply with environmental and nature conservation policies.
The Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park authority board unanimously voted against the development, while over 174,000 people signed a petition against it. Ross Greer, Scottish Green MSP, has criticised the latest decision to extend the land deal. Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie claimed that West Dunbartonshire residents did not want the development to go ahead.
Scottish Enterprise has said that it will extend the conditional missive with the developer to allow any planning appeal to be considered, so that the full range of evidence and views are fully considered. The agency has also said that it will continue to engage with Balloch and Haldane Community Council during the process. However, Scottish Enterprise declined to say when the deal is scheduled to run out, citing commercial reasons.
Jim Paterson, Flamingo Land’s development director for Lomond Banks, hopes that the company’s appeal will be successful so that the benefits of the project can be realised. Paterson states that the final proposal reflects over two years of community engagement, with the resort contributing £3.9m to the local economy. A Scottish government spokesperson stated that it is for Scottish Enterprise to handle its contractual arrangements
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