Flamingo Land exclusive development agreement must end
Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer has called for an end to Flamingo Land’s exclusive agreement with a government agency for the sale of public land on the iconic banks of Loch Lomond, if the theme park operator’s bid for a destructive mega-resort is rejected next month.
In a letter to the First Minister, John Swinney, Mr Greer has called for the Scottish Government to instruct its business agency, Scottish Enterprise, to end their agreement with Flamingo Land in the event that their current application is rejected on 16th September. Scottish Enterprise own the majority of the lochside site on which the proposed mega-resort would be built.
The Yorkshire-based theme park operator was originally granted the agreement, now a ‘conditional missive’, in 2016 and had it renewed in 2020 despite strong objections led by the Scottish Greens. This agreement means that only Flamingo Land can buy the land and prevents the community and other interested parties from bringing forward less destructive alternative proposals.
Flamingo Land’s proposal has received over 145,000 objections via a campaign portal set up by the Scottish Greens, making it by far the most unpopular planning application in history. Organisations who have objected include the National Trust for Scotland, Woodland Trust and Ramblers Scotland and Balloch & Haldane Community Council. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has also issued a conditional objection based on flood risk.
Mr Greer said: “For far too long residents in Balloch have lived with the constant threat of Flamingo Land hanging over their community. For a decade this saga has angered, frustrated and exhausted local people.
“A key reason for it going on this long is the ridiculous exclusive agreement that Flamingo Land has, which has given them a grip on the area and prevented the community from bringing forward their own proposals.
“We cannot allow a theme park operator to hold one of Scotland’s most iconic sites to ransom in the way they have.
“The agreement should never have been renewed after their first application failed, not after Balloch residents and people across Scotland had made clear the strength of opposition to these destructive plans.
“It would be inappropriate for the First Minister to comment on a specific application, even one as damaging as Flamingo Land. But his government can instruct Scottish Enterprise not to renew this agreement in the event that their current application is rejected on 16th September.
“If this bid is rejected, then it must be the end of the road for Flamingo Land. They can’t keep coming back and inflicting more misery on residents who have made it perfectly clear that they are not welcome. The exclusive agreement must be brought to an end and local people must be freed from the anxiety and uncertainty that has been caused.”
The garish and completely inappropriate application would see 104 woodland lodges, two hotels, a waterpark, monorail, 372 car parking spaces, shops and more crammed onto the banks of Loch Lomond at Balloch.
Full text of Ross Greer's letter to First Minister
Dear First Minister
Flamingo Land ‘Exclusivity Agreement’/ Conditional Missive at Balloch
As you are aware, the board of Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park will soon decide on the planning application by Flamingo Land - trading under ‘Lomond Banks’ – for construction of a mega-resort on the shores of Loch Lomond at Balloch.
Their proposals include two hotels, a waterpark, over 100 woodland lodges, 372 parking spaces, shops, restaurants, a monorail and more. Put simply, such a ‘resort’ would overwhelm this corner of the loch and the community of Balloch. It would cause immense environmental, social and economic harm to the area.
I appreciate that you are unable to comment on specific planning applications. However, I am writing in regard to Flamingo Land’s agreement with Scottish Enterprise (SE), which grants them exclusive rights to apply to develop the majority of the site currently in SE’s ownership.
This agreement, originally in the form of an exclusivity agreement and now a conditional missive, has prevented the community from bringing forward their own alternative proposals, as such proposals could not even be fully considered for as long as this agreement is in place. Following the withdrawal of Flamingo Land’s first application in the face of likely rejection, over ten thousand people signed my petition urging the Scottish Government and SE not to renew the exclusivity agreement and allow other proposals for the site to come forward. Unfortunately, the agreement was renewed and is still in place to this day.
As such, I am writing to you today to ask that you instruct Scottish Enterprise not to renew their agreement with Flamingo Land in the event that their current application is rejected on 16th September. It is time that the community is allowed to move on and alternative options are considered, such as those which the new Lomond South Community Development Trust intends to put forward.
