Planners have demanded more information over traffic and other issues with Flamingo Land’s £40m plans for a resort of Loch Lomond.
The response by the national park authority was welcomed as ‘a step forward’ by developers behind the Lomond banks project – but MSP Ross Greer has warned of ‘parking chaos’ if the project goes ahead.
Traffic is one of the key areas where national park planners have asked for more clarity, with specific numbers of vehicles requested.
The developers estimate that the increased traffic would vary from 84% on OId Luss Road in Balloch to 29% on Pier Road.
Planners said in a letter to Flamingo Land: “Please provide a clear, layperson’s explanation of when and for how long the uplift will be experienced (i.e., weekday/weekend, peak hour maximum or averaged across the day etc.) and how it will be experienced (i.e., will there be any increased delay or queueing?).
“It is important for the timing and duration of the main traffic impacts to be explained in relatable terms that can be understood by the public.”
Other issues raised include:
- A review of the character and extent of woodland at Woodbank House
- ‘Clarification’ over parking
- The number of new woodland lodges – stated as 16 rather than 30 in one document
- Confirmation that traffic assessments took account of seasonal variations.
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.”
The revised plans for the Lomond Banks development – which include hotels, a monorail and up to 127 self-catering lodges – will be decided by Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority.
Ross Greer, 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.
Read more: New visualisations show impact of Flamingo Land plan
Mr Cowan points out a number of inconsistencies in the application in a number of areas, one of which is parking provision.
He says the detail of the document contains at least one numerical error, but it clearly states the parking provision to be 393 spaces.
However, 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 1 space for every 2.5 beds.
If this methodology is followed, Mr Cowan estimates the true parking requirement to be 553 spaces.
Mr Greer, a regional list MSP for the West of Scotland, 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. It’s no wonder the vast majority of local people are saying no to the plans once again.
“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.”
Full details of the plans are available on the national park authority website – the reference number is 2022/0157/PPP.
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