THE Scottish government must pull the plug on Flamingo Land’s exclusive rights to build on the banks of Loch Lomond, the Scottish Greens insisted today.

The demand came after the company’s attempt to build a £40 million holiday resort, comprising two hotels, 100 holiday cottages, a waterpark and a monorail, was unanimously rejected for a second time by the board of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority on Monday.

Objections were received from almost 150,000 people, organisations such as the National Trust for Scotland and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

However, Green MSP Ross Greer fears that a threat remains while Flamingo Land retains an exclusive agreement with government agency Scottish Enterprise to develop the site.

At First Minister’s Questions yesterday, Mr Greer told John Swinney that he was “delighted by the park board’s unanimous rejection after a decade of attempts by Flamingo Land to force this daft mega resort on Balloch.”

He added: “I’ve written to the First Minister to request that the Scottish government terminate Flamingo Land’s exclusive contract with the government agency who own most of the site.

“This agreement was renewed after their first failed application in 2019 and it’s the key reason this threat has hung over the people of Balloch for a decade.

“It has prevented more appropriate development proposals from coming forward. 

“So, can I ask the First Minister, will the Scottish government end, rather than renew, this agreement?

“And will they review the use of exclusivity agreements and the impact they have on communities like Balloch?”

Mr Swinney told MSPs that he “hears what colleagues are saying” on the agreement, but that, with any appeal against the national park authority’s decision liable to come before ministers, he was unable to comment further.