Revealed: Scottish Enterprise betraying Loch Lomond
Scottish Enterprise will ignore overwhelming public opposition and proceed with plans for a Flamingoland resort at Loch Lomond, the Scottish Greens can reveal.
The controversial tourist resort proposals for one of Scotland’s most iconic natural beauty spots was refused permission last year after becoming the most unpopular planning application in Scotland’s history following a campaign led by Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer.
Mr Greer subsequently led a campaign to have Flamingo Land’s exclusivity agreement on the land cancelled by the Scottish Government. The agreement, with denies anyone but Flamingo Land the opportunity to purchase the publicly-owned site, was due to expire at the end of December 2020 but has now been renewed.
Earlier this month the Green MSP presented a petition signed by 13,000 people asking that it not be renewed.
Now, in an email to Greer’s office, the government agency confirmed it believes the plan still has “considerable merit”, and that it has renewed its agreement with Flamingo Land, which “will result in a new planning application in due course”.
Responding, Scottish Greens MSP for the West of Scotland Ross Greer, who spearheaded the campaign to stop the development, has called for the Scottish Government to urgently intervene and prevent renewal of the exclusivity agreement,
Ross Greer said:
“This is an outrage and will cause huge upset to the community in Balloch. A public agency that ignores the wishes of the public is not fit for purpose.
“Flamingo Land’s destructive plans were the most unpopular planning application in Scottish history, with overwhelming local and national opposition. The developer has consistently acted in bad faith and clearly has no interest in what the local community actually wants or needs. Scottish Enterprise owns this land and as a public body they are directly accountable to the Scottish Government through the Economy Secretary, Fiona Hyslop.
"Ms Hyslop must step in immediately to prevent this exclusive agreement from being renewed. The community are exhausted by this saga but if forced to, they will continue to defend Loch Lomond’s world-famous natural environment from those only interested in exploiting it for profit.”
