FMQs: Greens call on Government to end Flamingo Land exclusivity agreement
Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer has called on the First Minister to end the exclusivity agreement between a government agency and Flamingo Land regarding the Balloch site for which their destructive mega-resort proposal has just been rejected.
Scottish Government agency Scottish Enterprise entered into the controversial agreement with Flamingo Land in 2016. Despite their first application for a resort on the site receiving 60,000 objections and failing in 2019, the agreement was renewed in 2020, leading to the second application which was rejected on Monday.
The proposal, rejected unanimously by the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park board, was the most unpopular planning application in Scottish history, with an unprecedented 154,000 people lodging objections via a portal created by the Scottish Greens.
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Mr Greer called for the agreement to be ripped-up to allow for more positive alternative proposals to come forward, saying: “I am delighted by the Park board’s unanimous rejection after a decade of attempts by Flamingo Land to force this daft mega-resort on Balloch.
“Over 154,000 people joined our campaign and objected. They were joined by the Woodland Trust, Ramblers, the National Trust for Scotland and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
“But at its core this was a community campaign and my constituents in Balloch and Haldane want to turn the page.
“I’ve written to the First Minister to request that the Scottish Government terminate Flamingo Land’s exclusive contract with the government agency who own most of the site.
“This agreement was renewed after their first failed application in 2019, and it’s the key reason this threat has hung over the people of Balloch for a decade. It has prevented more appropriate development proposals from coming forward.
“So, can I ask the First Minister, will the Scottish Government end rather than renew this agreement? And will they review the use of exclusivity agreements and the impact they have on communities like Balloch?”
