Meeting of the Parliament 11 June 2025
I am pleased to open such an important debate on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives, and I thank Jackie Baillie for bringing this important issue to the chamber. I am speaking on behalf of the residents and businesses of Balloch and the surrounding areas, in my West Scotland region, on the Lomond Banks development, which is commonly known as Flamingo Land. I make it clear that I am not against development. If anything, I am very much for investment and job creation. However, development has to be in the right place and must take local residents and businesses into consideration. It certainly cannot come at the cost of ruining our beautiful and world-famous Loch Lomond.
Although I am pleased that the SNP Government has U-turned on the decision, one must wonder why it happened at the 11th hour. Could it be that the Scottish Conservatives joined forces with Opposition parties, resulting in a defeat for the SNP Government, or have the mailboxes of SNP MSPs and ministers been filled with a tsunami of emails from very unhappy locals? Like Jackie Baillie, I would like to give the minister an opportunity to respond. The minister has said that he cannot speak about live planning applications, but it would be great to hear why, at last, at the 11th hour, you have decided to change your mind.