A COMMUNITY leader in Luss is calling for a traffic management plan to be put in place urgently following a weekend of chaos when the picturesque village was swamped by crowds of visitors out to enjoy the sunny weather.

David Pretswell, convener of Luss and Arden Community Council, has hit out at Argyll and Bute Council for not implementing a detailed plan previously drawn up by the community to prevent congestion which regularly occurs in the village in summer.

In a strongly worded letter to bosses at the council and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Mr Pretswell says: “The very extreme tourist and visitor pressure on Luss village is completely unsustainable and the rate of deterioration of residents’ quality of life is rapidly accelerating.”

His comments come after widespread dismay among residents as crowds ignored government advice and flocked to the village where car parks and toilets were shut on the first weekend since lockdown restrictions were eased.

Many locals retreated indoors to stay safe.

Mr Pretswell described the May 30 and 31 events as “an unmanaged, predictable disgrace” and said there was now an urgent need for talks to resume with the council, national park and other stakeholders to put the community sponsored traffic management plan back on the agenda.

He said: “I am calling on Pippa Milne, the council’s chief executive, to dust off the promise she made to Jackie Baillie MSP to put the traffic plan in front of the local area committee to get it implemented.”

In his email, which has been copied to national park chief executive Gordon Watson and the council’s head of roads and amenity services, Jim Smith, Mr Pretswell praises Argyll and Bute officials for scrapping their plan to reopen the visitor car park in Luss following guidance from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

He added: “We know that it’s not easy planning a route back to relative normality from where we are now, but consultation, engagement and use of local knowledge are essential to help ensure this.”

Jackie Baillie, Dumbarton MSP, said: “The residents of Luss have been very patient in waiting for the council to put a suitable traffic management system in place for the village. The influx of visitors this weekend showed the extent of the problem.”

A spokeswoman for Argyll and Bute Council said: “We share the community council’s wish to improve the situation in Luss.

“We will take the revised traffic regulation order, as agreed with the community council, to the area committee as soon as possible.

“This would not, however, address all issues that arose at the weekend.

“We are therefore looking at what we can do in the immediate term – we are continuing to work with the national park and police in order to best manage the issues, we are dedicating extra resources to Luss this weekend, by having more wardens on site, and we are asking people to stay away for now and to follow the guidance.”