Patrick Harvie and First Minister John Swinney.
By Bill Heaney
Dumbarton man Patrick Harvie was well to the fore inside the Holyrood parliament today while large numbers of people outside gathered to express their anger at the Scottish Government’s intention to approve the highly controversial development by Flamingo Land on the shores of Loch Lomond.
The proposal has been opposed by the National Trust for Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and more than 155,000 people, and it was rejected unanimously by the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority.
“It is the most unpopular development in the history of the Scottish planning system,” the former Green Party leader told MSPs in the chamber.
Harvie knew he was stymied from the start.
He said: “I know that the First Minister is about to tell us that he cannot comment on a specific appeal, but his minister has already made a political decision.
“It took Ivan McKee [Scotland’s Planning Minister] just two working days to announce his refusal to act in the public interest and recall the appeal, so he and the First Minister must be accountable for that now.
“There is still a chance that we can save Loch Lomond—the decision is not set in stone—so will the First Minister listen to all those who have been objecting for years, put the natural environment ahead of corporate profit and recall the decision?”
He told MSPs: “As Mr Harvie indicated, the appeal remains live, so members must understand that it would not be appropriate for me to comment in detail on the proposal.
“I am aware that the [planning] reporter has issued a notice of intention to allow the appeal and to grant planning permission in principle, subject to 49 planning conditions being met and a legal agreement—including on the Lomond promise, which includes a commitment to community benefits and fair work—being reached.
“The reporter is required to make his decision on the planning merits of the case and to take full account of all submissions made by the parties involved in the case, including representations from members of the local community.”
“However, this is not the first time that he has defended such a development. In 2007, when John Swinney had been in government for less than a year, he overturned a local planning decision to approve another controversial, environmentally destructive project from a greedy, bullying developer.
“In that case, of course, the decision was made to give Donald Trump, pictured right, his golf course. Even Trump’s project director from those days has made it clear that the Government was hoodwinked.
“The First Minister is not standing up for Scotland. Did he learn nothing from his mistake? Why is he still willing to back greedy developers who cannot look at a landscape without seeing an opportunity to bulldoze it for profit?”
Mr Swinney replied: “I am absolutely committed to protecting Scotland’s natural environment. In all the decisions and steps that I take, I value and cherish that natural environment.
“The reporter has to come to a decision that is based on the planning merits of the case. In this circumstance, on a range of different conditions, the reporter has established a notice of intention to allow the appeal, subject to 49 planning conditions that I am sure address the issues that Mr Harvie is raising with me. Those issues have to be the subject of further discussion.
“That is the proper exercise of the planning process, which I am obliged by law to ensure is the case.”
Top of page artist’s impression is of the area west of Balloch Bridge which includes the tourist office, the Tullichewan Hotel and Balloch railway station.