Proposals for a huge development around the shores of Loch Lomond at Balloch are being considered by the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, which is the planning authority within the park boundaries.
There are arguments to be had about whether tourist developments bring economic benefit on one hand but the loss of public space in favour of those who can pay to enter. There are real questions about loss of wildlife and disturbance for residents – spare a thought for people on Skye who have been in the news for all the wrong reasons about being a popular tourist destination.
Standing back for one moment should we be asking a simpler question – what will the proposed development do to the protected landscape of one of our most famous lochs ?
This is important because the protected landscape is exactly what we value about Loch Lomond. Even Flamingo Land acknowledges this.
“The Scotland Visitor Survey carried out by Jump Research in 2015 and 2016 revealed that the main motivation to visit Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National park was the scenery and the landscape.” (Flamingo Land application : ES Vol 1 – 4.4.5)
The original survey (see here) details even more clearly our motivations for visiting Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. A full 78% said the scenery and landscape was their deciding factor and for 48% was wanting “to get away from it all”. Only 14% came to visit a particular attraction.
So what could this development by Flamingo Land look like ? As part of the requirement for applying for Planning Permission in Principle, Flamingo Land have had to commission a “massing study” which uses photomontage to give an idea of the size, shape and location of their proposed developments. It makes for eye-opening viewing (see here).
In this image the huge Drumkinnon Tower is completely blocked out by the new hotel, water attraction and resort building. The scale is shocking. The impact of this part of the development alone will be visible across miles of protected landscape and will be an unwelcome blight on the very thing that we value so much – the beauty and natural wonder of an ancient but living landscape.
This example (above) from near Lomond Shores shows again the massive scale of this building. From this viewpoint it rises above Creachan Hill and will mean the loss of all the trees within it’s huge footprint.
It’s not just the loch side that will be impacted by the proposed developments. The centre of Balloch, within the attractive riverside area, will be the site of another very large building complex.
In their assessment documents drawn up by consultants (see here), Flamingo Land claim that none of the proposals will have a high impact on the national park. In fact they claim the effect will be “negligible”.
“The introduction of the proposed development, within the urban settlement of Balloch would not effect the overall landscape or rural beauty of the Park.”
“Risk of loss or damage to Special Landscape Qualities – Negligible”
I think their own pictures tell a very different story.
Flamingo Land can do this with a bit of smoke and mirrors, by only considering the effect on the whole National Park. So by this logic if you are in Arrochar the development is not visible and so cannot blight your view……..but it will at Loch Lomond.
The full set of images can be viewed here
The National Park Biard need to get back to what they are supposed to be doing and that is looking after the Park and protecting it from this type of development. They should also be examining current use of the Park and ban the use of high speed craft which are an air and noise pollutants does are detrimental to the wildlife on the Loch and its surrounds.
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Happens a lot when hitting links to IL/FL planning on LLTNP
I’d like to know why the document is unavailable.
Exactly Nick. This is an industrial scale development. Factory production for the mass market. And that is for starters. The expansion plans will be on the back burner. Once they get their foot in the door…at that location…they will make the most of it. They have slapped this £30 million on the table and they plan to maximise the returns on their investment and they will not be nice and reasonable and civilised about it. They are hard-nosed, highly competitive business people. They do not give a hoot about Balloch, the local community, The Loch, nature conservation or the NP. The NP doesn’t even care about the NP. We’ve got to fight this tooth and nail.
Still unable to view the documents.
Hello Patsy
The planning website does often mysteriously say “unavailable”. I wonder if in this case it’s because by following my link you have not gone through the acceptance of the terms and conditions ? Try going into the planning portal and accept the T&C then search applications for “Riverside”. Go right to the bottom of the very long list of objections to find the Flamingo Land documents. The Massing Studies are there in a stand alone document called “ES Vol 2 Appendix 12: 12.5 Viewpoint massing studies”. Hope this gets you the document.
Fiona
This blogger clearly lives in the land of ‘alternative facts’ and ‘fake news’. Here is the reality.
“Proposals for a huge development around the shores of Loch Lomond”
Fact: The proposed development will have a loch frontage amounting to a few tens of metres, a tiny figure in comparison to the very large overall perimeter of Loch Lomond (at a first approximation, Loch Lomond’s shoreline measures well over 80kilometres)
“There are arguments to be had about whether tourist developments bring economic benefit on one hand but the loss of public space in favour of those who can pay to enter”
Fact: There will be considerable local economic benefit in terms of new jobs and increased visitor dwell time and spend. Fact: There will be very little loss of public space because the site will be completely open to the public. The pool facility will be open to the public.
“There are real questions about loss of wildlife and disturbance for residents”
Facts: Much of the area is classed as “Brownfield” land, having previously been a sand and gravel quarry, caravan site, railway line and sidings. The Finnart/Grangemouth oil pipeline crosses the Drumkinnon Wood part of the site. There is already a great deal of daily disturbance by pedestrians walking and driving to and from the existing Lomond shores complex as well as by local dog walkers and their dogs. There is also a history of fly tipping of mainly garden rubbish, presumably by householders bordering the site. With such a long history of disturbance it is not surprising that there is no evidence of rare species like otter. There is considerable bird life, but, as most of the existing woodland canopy will be retained, this will be relatively unaffected. Anyway the developers wish to promote wildlife within the site so long term, wildlife habitat and species diversity may well improve.
“spare a thought for people on Skye who have been in the news for all the wrong reasons about being a popular tourist destination.”
Fact: There are very few parallels between Skye and Balloch.
“Standing back for one moment should we be asking a simpler question – what will the proposed development do to the protected landscape of one of our most famous lochs”
Fact: It will affect a comparatively small urban fringe area which has no protected status and it will have minimal impact on the rest of Loch Lomond.
Fact: Most of the buildings will be within the existing woodland canopy set well back from the loch shore and River Leven.
“This is important because the protected landscape is exactly what we value about Loch Lomond. Even Flamingo Land acknowledges this.
“The Scotland Visitor Survey carried out by Jump Research in 2015 and 2016 revealed that the main motivation to visit Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National park was the scenery and the landscape.” (Flamingo Land application : ES Vol 1 – 4.4.5)
The original survey (see here) details even more clearly our motivations for visiting Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. A full 78% said the scenery and landscape was their deciding factor and for 48% was wanting “to get away from it all”. Only 14% came to visit a particular attraction.”
Fact: The development site is not the kind of wild location people seek to “get away from it all”.
“So what could this development by Flamingo Land look like ? As part of the requirement for applying for Planning Permission in Principle, Flamingo Land have had to commission a “massing study” which uses photomontage to give an idea of the size, shape and location of their proposed developments. It makes for eye-opening viewing (see here).
Image 1 – VP03: from the Maid of the Loch slipway
In this image the huge Drumkinnon Tower is completely blocked out by the new hotel, water attraction and resort building. The scale is shocking. The impact of this part of the development alone will be visible across miles of protected landscape and will be an unwelcome blight on the very thing that we value so much – the beauty and natural wonder of an ancient but living landscape.
“Fact: The larger buildings will indeed be visible from some of the southern reaches of Loch Lomond, but this will be a fairly small area of the loch measuring at the most about 5km2, a very small proportion of Loch Lomond’s 71km2 total surface area. Of course, close up, these buildings will be quite large and of course they will hide other features, just as you can block the view of a mountain just by putting your hand up in front of your eyes. The visual impact of the buildings will rapidly diminish as you move away from them, so that from just a few hundred metres out on the loch they won’t look nearly so large and from a mile out they will have almost no impact on the overall scene.
Image 2 – VP01 : Ben Lomond Way
“This example (above) from near Lomond Shores shows again the massive scale of this building. From this viewpoint it rises above Creachan Hill and will mean the loss of all the trees within it’s huge footprint.”
Fact: Creachan Mor, which is located on the west side of Loch Long, is not visible from anywhere on the site.”
Fact: Most of the trees in this area were planted recently and they are still quite small. New trees will be planted to replace those that are lost.
“It’s not just the loch side that will be impacted by the proposed developments. The centre of Balloch, within the attractive riverside area, will be the site of another very large building complex.
Image – VP10 : Balloch Road (Bridge Over River) – showing Station Square and camping chalets to right. Note how the proposed station square buildings are lower than the trees and if well designed could fit into the landscape”
Fact: This is one of the few passages in the blog which is true
“unlike the hotel/resort complex”
Fact: The hotel/resort complex is only an outline proposal and there is no reason why it couldn’t be well designed so that it is a good “fit in the landscape”.
“though the chalets will have a large impact on people walking along the shore of the River Leven”
Fact: It is true that people will see the lodges in amongst the trees, but whether that counts as a ‘large impact’ is open to debate. Some people might like the look of lodges and many will appreciate the new, well lit and safe riverside walkway.
Hi John, I believe Fiona has done the public a big favour in unearthing these visualisations and the core of her piece is based on facts from the developer not fake news as you claim. You claim as “Fact: The hotel/resort complex is only an outline proposal and there is no reason why it couldn’t be well designed so that it is a good “fit in the landscape”” when I think most people would see this as a matter of opinion: whether buildings which will project well above the height of trees could ever be appropriate on the shores of a loch like Loch Lomond. Your opinion on this depends on the extent to which you value natural landscapes against developed ones. You are entitled to your opinions but please respect the rights of others to hold different opinions. In terms of facts some of what you claim is wrong, for example, “Fact: It will affect a comparatively small urban fringe area which has no protected status and it will have minimal impact on the rest of Loch Lomond.” Actually the area is not small in planning terms, this is indeed a large development and claims this will only affect a small frontage of the loch does not negate the point Fiona was making, and far from having “no protected status” as you claim, its in the National Park. I thought National Parks were supposed to offer protection and do things differently?
Well done,Fiona, for highlighting this aspect of the proposed major development called Flamingo Land. As more information becomes available the more horrendous it becomes. Many visitors (and locals) to the area take a trip out on the loch on a boat. They do this to better enjoy the feeling of the wide open space that is the loch itself and experience the grandeur of the landscape surrounding it. Having enjoyed all that and heading back south to Balloch one is faced with Drumkinnon Tower, which from the water, is reminiscent of an abandoned gasometer! Imagine, then, after experiencing the pleasure of “the bonnie banks” being faced with an enormous built up monstrosity, as depicted in the photo montage VP03 (from the Maid of th Loch slippage). The views from the world famous iconic loch must be considered too!!