At the end of November, I took a critical look at the Balloch Charrette, the community planning event that took place in 2016 (see here) AFTER the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority had already committed to Flamingo Land going ahead. Out of the event came an Action Plan (see here) complete with lead partners…
Tag: flamingo land
To mark Save Loch Lomond Day, which is being run by Save Loch Lomond to celebrate the number of objections to the Flamingo Land Planning Application reaching 35,000, I thought I would take a look at how boating on the loch is being commercialised. In January, the Loch Lomond and Trossachs Park Authority, which was…
There is a case for tourism development at Balloch which goes all the way back to the Clyde Valley Regional Plan in 1949. That envisaged a number of developments along the south west corner of Loch Lomond segregated by green spaces. The problem is the developments now being proposed on the south shores of Loch…
While rumours are circulating that the Flamingo Land Planning Application to develop much of Balloch may be withdrawn and replaced by a number of separate applications, officially the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority have suspended the Planning Process since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…
There have been many objections to the Flamingo Land Planning Application but very little consideration given to how it fits with the policies set out in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Local Development Plan (LDP). While politics are often a more important factor than plans in determining planning applications, the LDP is…
Charrette is the fashionable name given to events ostensibly designed to include and empower local communities in respect of local planning processes. The name appears designed to discourage and disempower, unless you happen to be French. Still, if well run, incomprehension can change to active participation while ideas and proposals can be produced and converted…
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,…
After my post on the huge visual impact of the proposed Flamingo Land development at Balloch (see here), the issue of job creation has been brought up as a reason to support the development. Employment and economic health is very important but because the area of Loch Lomond is unique from a landscape, wildlife and…
The Flamingo Land Planning Application should be central to the debates currently taken place in the Scottish Parliament on a new planning bill. The central question they need to address is how is it that the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority could be judged overall winner in the Scottish Quality Awards for…
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…
On Saturday I was delighted to be one of the speakers at a demonstration against Flamingo Land organised by Save Loch Lomond (see here) and which was covered on STV news (see here). While I believe the decision about whether Flamingo Land goes ahead will ultimately be decided by politics, part of my speech covered planning…
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…
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…
[Editor’s note: my apologies to James and readers, I had intended to appear publish James’ objection to the Flamingo Land proposal at the end of June. It makes a forceful case for nature] My objection to the Flamingo Land planning application was as follows. To the east, the Site Boundary is on the River…
Descending from the Brazato pass, after a long and wild walk up the Valle del Ara (see here), Banos de Panticosa came as a surprise. While in a brilliant location, nestled under a chain of 3000m peaks, it provides an example of how not to do developments, whether in National Parks (its right on the…
Three months ago, following the felling of over 100 trees by Drumkinnon Bay in Balloch I asked the question what was going on (see here)? In mid-June the police arrested a man from Alexandria in connection with the felling (see here) but there have been no further announcements about whether he was acting on someone’s order…
Last week, the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority validated an application for planning permission in principle for the Riverside and Woodside sites at Balloch (see here). This is a massive application, the details of which I will come back to in further posts, which has been submitted in the names of both Flamingo…
Yesterday nominations opened for elections to the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority Board, the only scheduled local elections for Scotland this year. (The next Cairngorms National Park Authority direct elections will be in 2019). One third of the board of each of our National Park Authorities is made up of members directly elected…
By Bruce Biddulph (This text was included in an update to a petition to the Scottish Government to stop the sale of the Riverside Site in Balloch to Flamingo Land) Drumkinnon Bay, along with its Woods and the river bank along the Leven which flows from Loch Lomond, are steeped in history. This history was…
This post takes a look at the current Flamingo Land proposal for the riverside site (reddish area above) against the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority’s policy for the area, as set out in various plans. This reveals several shifts in policy in the last year. The National Park Development Plan, approved by the…
There has been a lot of community activity in Balloch since Scottish Enterprise announced Flamingo Land had been appointed developer for the Riverside Site. You can follow this activity and thinking through a number of Facebook Groups including “Balloch Responds”, “Friends of Drumkinnon Woods” and “Alternative Balloch – A Productive United Village”. Recently people have…
Yesterday the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority planning committee considered a planning application from David McCowan, an elected Board Member and member of the Planning Committee (see here). David McCowan represents the people of Balloch and West Loch Lomond and the planning application was to build a three storey extension onto the Woodbank…
On Friday I went to the first of the Flamingo Land consultation events at Lomond Shores in Balloch. I was not sure what to expect partly because the proposals have been developed in secret (see here) but also because – like many people I suspect – I don’t think like a developer. The display of…
A few weeks ago I learned that someone had nominated me for the TGO Readers’ Award under the category Campaign or Campaigner of the year. I am really grateful that someone appreciated parkswatchscotland sufficiently to nominate me for this. I also think its great that TGO values campaigning and through the awards and its…
On 27th October, after six months of silence, agents for Flamingo Land lodged a pre-planning application consultation strategy with the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority. Anyone who follows Scottish Government planning policy knows that one of the big ideas and big pushes is towards “front loading” the planning system, with a shift to…