A COMMUNITY council in Balloch has outlined its “support in principle” for Flamingo Land’s development proposals in the area.

But in their report on the West Riverside and Woodbank House application, Balloch and Haldane Community Council (BHCC) members raise a number of issues they want to see addressed if outline permission is granted by the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority.

These include concerns that a riverside walkway on the ‘West Riverside Zone’, which formed part of the Balloch Charrette Report, is currently “not there” in the plans, and that this should be of “a material consideration” to the determination of the planning application.

The BHCC report says members would like to see “more being done” to the ‘A’ grade listed building at the Woodbank site, which under current plans would have its facade repaired.

And car parking within proposed ‘West Riverside, Zone C’ is viewed by the community council as a contentious issue, with the power to “scupper” the application, requesting that a better car parking design be submitted.

The comments are provided in the hope that the developer “will come up with something in their detailed plans that are more acceptable to all”, should the application in principle be granted.

In the document, the community council states that Flamingo Land’s application was considered in light of the national park’s local development plan, which places “visitor experience” at fore for the area.

However, opinion was torn within the community council over the application, with three-quarters of members expressing support ‘in principle’, while the other 25 per cent were “totally against”.

Objections from local people and those from the wider area were taken into account, however, the BHCC report says “the economic benefits of such a major development should not be ignored by the community in Balloch and the Vale of Leven”.

At their meeting on Wednesday, chair Murdoch Cameron stated: “We’re really now just awaiting the Park’s further comments.”

BHCC is not the first local group to give its cautious backing to the Flamingo Land plans; the company’s application has also attracted qualified support from conservation group Friends of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs charity.

A spokeswoman for the National Park Authority told the Reporter that they are currently not in a position to advise of the application’s determination date, with further information having been requested from Flamingo Land and Scottish Enterprise to allow the assessment to be concluded.

All of the application documents, including the environmental statement, are available to view on the Park Authority’s e-planning portal using reference 2018/0133/PPP.