Controversial £40m Flamingo Land Loch Lomond plans 'not opposed' despite record objections

Councillors have decided against opposing a controversial £40million plan for Flamingo Land on the banks of Loch Lomond - despite a record number of objections.

West Dunbartonshire Council members remained neutral on their position regarding the leisure site in Balloch on Wednesday night, neither backing or opposing the development.

The Yorkshire firm’s controversial plans for the beauty spot include a water park, monorail, swimming pool, hotel, eateries, and more than 100 lodges.

Despite clocking up a record 84,000 objections, the plans won the support of council planning officers, who urged members to grant permission.

However, councilliors simply noted the application and called for conditions to be imposed if the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority give the go ahead. The vote passed by 12-8.

The park authority now have the final approval on whether the resort will go ahead.

Flamingo Land is a well-known brand in the UK with a theme park, zoo, and resort operating in North Yorkshire since the 1950s.

It was granted exclusive access by Scottish Enterprise to develop on the land back in 2016 - but its first application for a massive 46-acre resort was withdrawn in 2019 amid local anger. It launched a second revised bid in 2022.

Flamingo Land bosses say they have made “significant amendments” following feedback, including a pledge to upgrade the congested Stoneymollan Roundabout in Balloch, after concerns from locals, with a legal funding agreement in place with Transport Scotland.

Campaigners say the Flamingo Land bid is the “most objected to” planning application in Scots history.

Cllr David McBride told the Record: "I understand this was a very emotive and controversial planning application. There were very strong views expressed by Councillors at the Council meeting, ultimately it was agreed the Council should remain neutral but press the national park that any application if successful should have mitigations on improvement to the roads infrastructure and traffic management.

"This was a concern universally raised by local residents".

One of those objecting to the proposals was the newly-formed Balloch and Haldane Community Council with concerns over potential impacts on the landscape and natural environment, local roads, firms, and public services.

They were joined by local Green MSP Ross Greer - who has long campaigned against the £40million bid - who previously said Flamingo Land was "not fit to take over one of the most important spots on the shores of Loch Lomond".

He previously told the Record: "This is a fundamentally inappropriate development - it’s too big and it's too disruptive.

"Balloch does not want or need over a hundred woodland lodged and almost four hundred parking spaces, never mind a waterpark, hotel, and monorail scarring one of Scotland’s most iconic landscapes."

Eco watchdog SEPA also objected to the plans and had flagged parts of the proposed development as a serious flood risk, while heritage chiefs at the National Trust for Scotland raised concerns that the holiday complex would clog up roads and ruin natural beauty if approved.

A hearing on the plans will be held by Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority for the first time in public when the board will vote on whether the resort will get the go ahead.

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