Emergency meeting to discuss controversial Flamingo Land resort decision

An emergency meeting has been set up to try and overturn the controversial decision to grant planning permission for a local Flamingo Land resort.

The Balloch and Haldane community council has organised a public gathering this Friday, May 30 at Kessogs Church Hall to discuss the proposals for the banks of Loch Lomond.

A panel, made up of MSP Ross Greer, MSP Jackie Baillie, MSP Pam Gosal, councillor Jim Bollan with special guest The Wee Glesga Poet, has been arranged to share their insights and thoughts on the development.

It comes after the Scottish Government reporter upheld an appeal from the Yorkshire-based theme park operator but added 49 conditions to the application.

The Balloch and Haldane community council has been urging the Scottish Government to reverse its decision to grant planning permission, while expressing its “deep disappointment and outrage” at approving the proposals, which they claim contradict the “expressed will” of the local community.

As part of the conditions, the applicant will now have to reach an agreement with Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority, which rejected the proposals last year, before the application can progress.

Under the £43.5m proposals, Lomond Banks would see two hotels, more than 100 lodges, a waterpark and monorail built on the site at Balloch, West Dunbartonshire.

The development has been proposed for years, with Lomond Banks pulling out in 2019 before returning with a new application, which has proven controversial with the local community.

Councillor Jim Bollan, who is expected to be part of Friday’s panel, said: “The campaign to save Loch Lomond is at a critical stage.

“I would ask the public to contact their MSPs and urge them to vote for Ross Greer’s motion S6M-17650, which is being tabled in the Scottish Parliament to call in and refuse the Flamingo Land application.”

A spokesperson for the Balloch and Haldane community council previously said: “This is not just a bad planning decision — it is a fundamental failure of democracy and policy.

“This decision rides roughshod over the principles of community empowerment, environmental protection, and democratic accountability.

“Our community, through proper statutory channels, objected in strong and clear terms. The will of the people has been ignored.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson also said at the time: “An independent reporter has issued a decision intimating that he is minded to grant planning permission in principle for the proposal subject to 49 planning conditions subject to a legal agreement being reached between the national park authority and developer to secure the employment and environment issues that are set out in the Lomond Promise.

“As the appeal remains live, it would not be appropriate to comment further on the merits of the proposed development.”

The meeting will start at 6.30pm this Friday.