Tag: Scottish Enterprise

November 25, 2022 Nick Kempe 2 comments

After the first three questions in NatureScot consultation on National Parks, which are about whether to turn them into vehicles for “green finance” (see here), the fourth is about the role of local communities (see here).  The introductory text to the section claims that our National Parks “provide exemplars of community engagement” but contain no…

May 27, 2022 Nick Kempe 5 comments

Yesterday the revised planning application from Flamingo Land to develop Balloch was published on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) planning portal (see here). The main differences to the planning application that was submitted in 2018 and then withdrawn in September 2019, just before the LLTNPA was due to consider it, is…

December 29, 2020 Nick Kempe 3 comments

Just before Xmas Scottish Enterprise (SE) announced (see here) it intended to renew its Exclusivity Agreement (EA) with Flamingo Land which was due to expire at the end of December.  If approved by Scottish Ministers, the EA will legally commit SE to selling the land it owns at Balloch to Flamingo Land, should they secure…

December 16, 2019 Nick Kempe 3 comments

A month after the Flamingo Land Planning Application was withdrawn on 17th September (see here), I submitted an information request to clarify further the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board’s involvement in the whole process.  EIR 2019-022 Response arrived a couple of weeks ago.  It provides several insights into the Flamingo Land Planning…

September 5, 2019 Nick Kempe 4 comments

In the first bit of really welcome news (see here) to have emerged from the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park for some time, officers have recommended  that the entire Flamingo Land Planning Application is refused.  This includes both the proposals for land owned by Scottish Enterprise and the National Park itself on the Riverside…

June 25, 2019 Nick Kempe No comments exist

I was honoured to be on the platform last night for the Save Loch Lomond meeting in Balloch about the proposed Flamingo Land Development…… along with five elected politicians.   There were some great contributions which you can view on Independence Live (here). Flamingo Land, Scottish Enterprise and local SNP politicians, possibly in thrall to the SNP…

June 14, 2019 Nick Kempe 6 comments

Scottish Enterprise’s decision to make a joint planning application with Flamingo Land at Balloch, with a view to selling off the publicly owned gateway to the National Park for private profit, is looking increasingly foolhardy.  First Scottish Enterprise included the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority, the body that has to decide the planning…

May 15, 2019 Nick Kempe 2 comments

Last week I mentioned the growing media interest in the Flamingo Land proposals at Balloch and it was great to see this powerful piece from Kevin McKenna at the weekend.   Mr McKenna got one thing wrong, however – or perhaps a mistake was made in the editing?   Scottish Enterprise did not acquire the Riverside…

April 24, 2019 Nick Kempe 6 comments

Yesterday, Flamingo Land’s media consultants issued a  New release on their revised Planning Application at Balloch.  This received widespread media coverage and appeared designed to deceive. Most of the media did not fall for the attempt to rename the proposed development Lomond Banks and continued to refer to it as Flamingo Land.  No-one, however, questioned…

April 18, 2019 Nick Kempe 3 comments

After announcing a “major application”  update last week (see here),  the revisions to the Flamingo Land planning application appeared yesterday evening.   There are about 40 new documents on the planning portal (see here), all dated 5th April rather than the 17th April when they were made public by the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National…

January 16, 2019 Nick Kempe 3 comments

While rumours are circulating that the Flamingo Land Planning Application to develop much of Balloch may be withdrawn and replaced by a number of separate applications,  officially the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority have suspended the Planning Process since August while awaiting information from the applicant (see here).   That hardly tallies with the…

December 14, 2018 Nick Kempe 1 comment

The case for the restoration of the Maid of the Loch The case for the restoration of the Maid of the Loch is extremely strong.   The boat itself is part of our industrial and cultural heritage http:// https://www.maidoftheloch.org/history.    As importantly, its mooring by the pier is located next door to the steam slipway and…

November 14, 2018 Nick Kempe 5 comments

Scottish Enterprise’s financial support for Flamingo Land Following the revelation from Jackie Baillie, the local Labour MSP, that Scottish Enterprise had valued the enormous West Riverside Site in Balloch at a paltry £200k, the Greens have discovered that Scottish Enterprise have been giving further help to Flamingo Land by paying for “site investigations”. “To date,…

October 5, 2018 Nick Kempe 7 comments

The launch of a campaign last week (see here) by Green MSP Ross Greer to get people to object to the Flamingo Land Planning Application and promoted by Save Loch Lomond (see here) has had a huge response.  26,520 people to date have registered objections on the portal the Greens have set up   Whether the Loch…

August 15, 2018 Nick Kempe 1 comment

As of today, there were 1008 documents on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Planning Portal (see here) associated with the Flamingo Land Planning Application.  Most of them appear to be objections but even letters of support express significant concerns.   Among local residents, whether objectors or supporters, one major concern is that Balloch…