After the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) had effectively excluded the local community from the planning process which led to Flamingo Land (see here and here), a Community Development Trust (CDT) provided an alternative means for people in Balloch to have a say over the future of the land in the village.  By setting up a CDT to represent them, the local community could, in theory, use the Community Empowerment Act (Scotland) 2015 to ask Scottish Enterprise to transfer the land to them.  That Act also gave other local representative organisations, including the Balloch and Haldane Council (BHCC), the right to lodge a ‘participation request’, for example by asking Scottish Enterprise to be involved in future decisions about the land they owned in the village.

The Loch Lomond South Community Development Trust

A public meeting called by the BHCC in 2024 gave the go ahead to the creation of a local community development trust for Balloch and Haldane, although the name subsequently chosen suggested it represented a wider area.

A first company, the Loch Lomond South Community Development Trust, was incorporated on 27^th August 2024. It was dissolved on 5^th August 2025 after an application in May 2025 by two of the Directors for voluntary strike-off (see here). The explanation for this appears to be that the memorandum and articles of association for the company did not meet the requirements of CDTs as set out in Scottish legislation.

A second company, the Loch Lomond South CDT Ltd was incorporated on 8^th October 2024 (see here) with the same three Directors, Lynne Somerville, Andrea Middleton and Pamela Scott Gibson.  A further 4 Directors, Jim Bollan (co-opted), Adrienne McAulay, David Ross and Murdo MacSween were appointed on 20^th September 2025 and it is that ‘team’, with the exception of Murdo MacSween – who is missing – which is still featured on the Loch Lomond South CDT website (see here):

Companies House shows that Jim Bollan, Andrea Middleton and Adrienne McAuley have all now resigned as Directors of the CDT and a new Director, George Taylor, was appointed in January 2026.  There is no other information on Companies House (accounts are due by the 8th July) and very little information on the CDT website:  there are no minutes of meetings, the most recent published blog is a newsletter for November 2024  and you would not know the Trust had held their first AGM on 27th February 2026 nor what was discussed and agreed at that meeting.

The Trust has, however, continued to send out some information to those that subscribe to their newsletters who appear to include both members – i.e local residents with a right to vote – and supporters who reside elsewhere..

The Loch Lomond South CDT and Scottish Enterprise

After Scottish Enterprise transferred the land they owned at the Pierhead  to the LLTNPA in May 2025 (see here), I asked Lynne Somerville, Chair of the CDT, whether they had registered an interest in acquiring this parcel of land, which in my view was crucial to the proposed Flamingo Land development.  Her reply on 17th June 2025 stated that the CDT Directors had decided not to do  because ‘it would not only stretch our already limited resources, but could also risk the Trust being perceived as obstructive without a clear and viable alternative in place’.

A newsletter from the CDT in July 2025 (see here) then informed subscribers that the Directors had lodged a  asset transfer request to takeover the former Tourist Information Centre near the railway station in Balloch (photo above).  It also stated there had been complications because the building had been promised to Flamingo Land by Scottish Enterprise as part of their Exclusivity (see here)

A  further newsletter in October 2025 then asked subscribers to write to Scottish Enterprise in support of the CDT’s registration of interest.  This was followed  by an email on 4th January 2026 asking for feedback on whether the Directors should proceed because of the terms offered by Scottish Enterprise:

 

The winter newsletter sent to subscribers on 29th January contained no indication of what feedback had been received but did provide further information on the terms offered by Scottish Enterprise:

A three year licence was a lousy offer.  It would allow Flamingo Land to take over the building should they successfully contest Scottish Ministers decision to refuse their application (see here), with the local community having to take on all responsibility for repairs and maintenance meantime.

Since January there has been one further email from the LLSCDT on 28th March, seeking a new chair, but no further updates on the Tourism Information Centre or what else the Directors have been doing.  Given the CDT was set up to challenge how Scottish Enterprise was managing its assets in Balloch, it is somewhere ironic that they have published more information about what is going on than the CDT has on its own website, as I found out when I lodged an information request at the end of April.

The LLSCDT’s three requests to Scottish Enterprise under the Community Empowerment Act

On 29th May Scottish Enterprise responded to my information request (see here). This had asked what interests had been registered by the CDT in the land at Balloch and for section of SE’s conditional missives which showed their Exclusivity Agreement with Flamingo Land was still in force.  SE declined to provide any evidence to show their agreement with Flamingo Land was still in force, probably because they knew that any appeal to the Information Commissioner would take even longer than the courts to reach a decision, but the rest of their response was far more helpful.

The most striking information they provided was that:

‘Earlier this week, Loch Lomond South CDT formally submitted a further Asset Transfer Request Form in respect of additional Scottish Enterprise-owned assets in Balloch, namely West Riverside, Drumkinnon Wood and the Gateway Centre. This new submission will now also be considered’.

It seems quite a coincidence that the CDT registered an interest in the remainder of SE’s land at Balloch the same week SE responded to my request but perhaps their February AGM had mandated the Directors to do this?  Whatever the explanation – one would have thought this news would be all over their website –  this about turn by the directors of the CDT is very welcome.

SE also helpfully pointed out that they proactively publish Asset Transfer Requests and their decisions about these on the Policies and Information section of their website (see here) under the obscure heading ‘Owned Investment Property Assets’.  Unfortunately, a month later the CDT’s recent request has still not been published so it is not possible to understand the rationale behind it.  However, the CDT’s full application for the former Tourism Information building is available (see here), along with Scottish Enterprise’s decision. . These show the registration of interest was submitted on 24th December 2024, that Scottish Enterprise took 11 months before responding in November 2025 and much interesting information about the application and SE’s proposed license

The Owned Investment Property Assets section of SE’s website also reveals that the LLSCDT, along with the BHCC, lodged a Participation Request on 18th September 2025, asking to be involved in future decisions about land at Balloch.   SE responded on 12th December stating that:

‘Flamingo Land Ltd.has given a contractual obligation to SE to comply with the provisions of the “Lomond Promise”’

and,

‘Scottish Enterprise requires full unfettered discretion regarding monitoring of this obligation’

so,

‘If the planning application is approved, then under this option Scottish Enterprise would propose that it will continue to engage regularly with BHCC & LLSCAT as the project progresses to satisfy the conditions of contract’.

This ‘commitment’ from Scottish Enterprise is completely meaningless and, together with its derisory offer of a temporary license to occupy the former information building, perhaps explains why the CDT Directors have now decided to register an interest in ALL the land SE owns at Balloch, including the existing development at Loch Lomond Shores and Drumkinnon Woods which Flamingo Land has used to ‘offset’ some of the adverse impacts of its proposed development.(see here).

In my view that is what the CDT should have done from the start to put pressure on Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government.  While the recent attempt to register an interest is welcome – SE could still refuse it even if the Courts uphold the Scottish Government’s decision to refuse the Flamingo Land planning application – it will have no chance of success unless the public know about it and are involved in developing an alternative to Flamingo Land at Balloch.   That means the LLSCDT being far more open, outward focused and accountable than it has been to date.