Plans for a tourism and housing development at the former torpedo range on Loch Long have been backed by a conservation charity.
Ardnagal Estates submitted proposals to national park planners in November for the derelict site near Arrochar, including:
- 15 self-build residential plots
- 40 holiday lodges
- 20 Glamping cabins
- A bunkhouse to accommodate up to 40 people
- Pitches for ten motorhomes or campervans
- An electric bus linking the site with nearby villages and Arrochar and Tarbet railway station
- Pierhead facilities for boat storage and repair, a café or restaurant and retail
- Paths for cyclists and pedestrians, as well as parking.
And now the Friends of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs have given the plan qualified support, saying the site was ‘a running sore’ and ‘crying out for remediation’.
The group’s chair John Urquhart said: “Realistically there is no likelihood that the authorities or charities such us ours will ever have the resources to address its many problems and a commercial solution seems to us to be the only practicable way forward.
“A number of developers have shown a passing interest over the years, but no one so far seems to have been able to assemble the necessary finance and this suggests to us that there could be a role for national and/or local government agencies to assist in some way, perhaps with some of the clear up costs to “kick start” the development process.
“This has often been the case with brownfield sites elsewhere in Scotland and should be given serious consideration here.
“The mixed development proposals are relatively low key and appropriate for this site. We particularly like the plans to recognise the potential of the existing berthing.”
Hr added that planning permission should be conditional on businesses contributing regularly to a community natural capital benefit fund, which could be used to tackle
issues such as litter and invasicve species such as Rhododendron Ponticum.
More details are available on Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority’s website – the reference number is 2023/0374/DET .
So far no objections or comments in support have been made.
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