BOSSES at Flamingo Land are this week expected to submit their proposals for their £30m leisure resort on the west riverside site at Balloch.

And once the Pre-Application Notice (PAN) is submitted, the Yorkshire-based company will fire the starting pistol on a 12-week consultation period before taking the proposals to full planning application 'readiness.'

Last month The Reporter told how the company was in the process of setting up a website to unveil their ambitious proposals.

They were also planning to “front-up” against local residents in a bid to win them over.

Public consultation is now expected to take place before the October week school holidays but a date and venue have still to be confirmed.

The proposals, first announced last September, involve developing a 20-hectare site into lodges, a boutique hotel, hostel, glamping pods as well as family-based attractions and restaurants.

It’s also understood that a viewing tower could be part of the proposals.

However, since Flamingo Land were selected by Scottish Enterprise as the preferred developers of the 20-hectare site, opposition over the proposals has grown, resulting in a petition which gathered tens of thousands of signatures, all opposed to the plans.

And a group of locals even staged a demonstration against the proposals by gathering recently in Drumkinnon Woods, part of the land which could be affected by the development plans.

The group got in touch with the Reporter this week and they issued a statement which read: "We believe that Flamingo Land have put in an application for land from the Woodbank Hotel through the woods and down to Sweeney's boatyard, including, we believe, the Tourist Information Centre.

"This will dramatically affect our environment, but as yet there has been no consultation with the public, though there has been an online petition opposing it, signed by over 30,000 people."

The Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority has already flagged up some points to Flamingo Land, in terms of the possible impact of a project of this scale.

But Flamingo Land say they have looked at the issues and are ready will come back with "detailed information" to address them.

A Flamingo Land spokesman said: "Having received a response back from the planning department with regard the scoping document we submitted in May, we have been gathering more detailed information on the points raised by the planning department.

"We would envisage being in a position to submit our PAN notice over the summer with a view of holding public consultation before the school Holidays in October.

"As soon as we lodge the PAN notice we will enter into a 12 week consultation period."

Gordon Gibb, chief executive of Flamingo Land Limited, said they saw “huge potential” on the west riverside and viewed the proposed development as a “fantastic opportunity” to create a family oriented attraction.

He added: “We are excited by the prospect of creating a resort in the national park that recognises the importance and sensitivity of the site.”

But Nick Kempe, blogger for Parkswatchscotland, labelled the proposals as a “tacky theme park.”