Concerns over Loch Lomond adventure park plans

May 13 2011 by Marc Mclean, Lennox Herald (main ed)

A LOCH Lomond conservation group is worried about huge plans for a £100m adventure theme park on the bonnie banks.

Members of Loch Lomond Association admit they are alarmed at news a nightclub owner is in talks with Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park about creating such an attraction.

National park chiefs are staying tight-lipped about the project which is understood to be at the site of the old Highland Way Hotel in Balmaha.

Entrepreneur Wayne Gardner-Young also hopes to build a hotel, cafes and restaurant to sit alongside a five-star touring caravan site with a spa, plus a variety of holiday apartments and lodges.

National Park chief executive Fiona Logan confirmed discussions on a “nature-based” attraction were taking place, but little information has been released following the secretive talks.

Jim MacDonald, a committee member of Loch Lomond Association, said: “Of the national park’s four aims, Loch Lomond Association considers that conservation is the one most important feature – whereas the national park itself seems hell-bent on commercial development.”

Mr Gardner-Young insists his adventure park plans, which are said to include the likes of zip-line rides and treehouses, will be in keeping with nature and the beauty of the area.

He said: “This will be a high-class development that will be built in harmony with the countryside and the environment.”

The businessman also seems confident his plans will be approved, saying: “It will be situated right on the shores of Loch Lomond and there is little doubt this will happen.”

Peter Jack, chairman of Loch Lomond Association, said: “A lack of information has been released by the national park to the press. We only found out about this last week in a newspaper article.

“If the development was to take place in Balmaha then I would have some concerns as the national park was previously not too enthusiastic about further large scale commercial developments in that area.

“In the past we’ve felt that the national park has not really operated very responsibly with regard to the placement of tourist developments.

“Over the years it has tended to look for large scale development and been prepared to approve these in all the wrong places.”

This included giving the McKever Hotel Group the go-ahead for a hotel and leisure complex at Rowardennan – one of the most scenic areas of the national park – a couple of years ago.

LLA members were angry the national park disregarded their views and its own local plan to grant permission, however the development did not materialise as the McKever Group went bust.

Mr Jack also argues that the roads alongside that stretch of the lochside would not be able to cope with the increase in traffic created by such a large development.

The C6 road, which runs from Drymen to Rowardennan via Balmaha, is already in need of an upgrade.

“The whole of that road is extremely busy and overcrowded during the height of the summer season,” said Mr Jack.

“To create a development of that scale, which would presumably attract many people, would not seem to be the sensible thing to do.”

Lomond Councillor Craig McLaughlin said: “This has been kept very hush-hush between the applicants and planners, which is not unheard of because it is commercially sensitive.”

Councillor McLaughlin, who is also deputy convener of the National Park board, says he is keen to learn more about the location and finer details of the proposals.

“I’m always open to ideas and positive thinking to regenerate our local economy,” he said.

“However, the balance ultimately has to be struck between the economic benefit and conservation of this wonderful area.”

National park bosses insist no formal proposals have been submitted and that any planning application would be subject to the normal planning process which includes detailed discussions over design and specification.

Fiona Logan said: “I can confirm that Mr Gardner-Young has received pre-application planning advice on a number of proposals he is considering bringing forward in the area. While our pre-application advice to any applicant is treated as confidential, it is important to clarify that these discussions involve development on sites already supported for tourism uses within the national park’s local plan.

“Our local plan seeks to actively encourage more investment in sensitively designed new tourism facilities so that our 4.5 million visitors per year have a great experience of the national park and contribute to economic benefits and local jobs for our communities.

“Furthermore, none of the proposals discussed resembles what the park authority would regard as a theme park. Any development proposal would have to be of the highest standard as befits a national park location and would be subject to due planning process.”