Flamingo Land set to win resort appeal

Community anger as campaigners fear 'irreversible damage'

- CARLA TALBOT

Developers behind the £40 million Lomond Banks resort in Balloch look set to be given the go-ahead in a move which would overturn a decision by the national park to reject it.

Scottish Government officials intend to grant permission for Flamingo Land's controversial tourist resort plan for Loch Lomond, which Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer says will cause “irreversible damage” and is an “anti-democratic outrage”.

Flamingo Land has attempted to gain planning permission for their resort at Balloch for the past decade, with their first application withdrawn in 2019.

Their latest bid was unanimously rejected by the board of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park at a public hearing in September last year.

This followed a campaign led by Ross Greer which collected over 155,000 individual objections to the plans, as well as objections from the National Trust for Scotland, Woodland Trust, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the local community council and the Park's own expert planning officers.

Flamingo Land lodged an appeal against this decision shortly before Christmas, seeking to have the rejection overturned by the Scottish Government and secure consent for their plans, which include two hotels, a waterpark, over 370 car parking spaces, 100 woodland lodges, a monorail, and more.