Controversial Loch Lomond Flamingo Land plans recalled
In September 2024, the Yorkshire-based theme park operator, Flamingo Land Ltd, had their planning permission in principle rejected after all 14 board members of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs Planning Authority.
Now, plans for the development at Lomond Banks have been recalled by Scottish Ministers.
READ MORE: Warning issued after boats filmed getting 'too close' to orcas on Scottish coast
Minister for Public Finance, Ivan McKee (below), said he has recalled the plans as the proposed development raises issues of 'national significance'.
He said: 'I have decided to recall the Lomond Banks appeal as the proposed development raises issues of national significance in view of its potential impact on Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.
'This means that the appeal should be determined at a national level.'
The news comes after more than 50,000 people wrote to McKee in just two weeks, demanding that the Scottish Government withdraw its approval of the mega-resort planning application.
Greens MSP Ross Greer said the public's opinion on the proposal, which is the most opposed in Scottish planning history with more than 155,000 individuals lodging objections, 'couldn't be clearer'.
He said: 'In just two weeks the Planning Minister has heard directly from over 50,000 people calling on him to block these proposals. Public opinion couldn't be clearer and it is backed up by experts including the Government's own environment watchdog.'
Organisations such as the National Trust for Scotland, the Woodland Trust, the Ramblers, and the Scottish Government environment watchdog, SEPA, also raised objections against the plans.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Palestine Action member tells BBC plan to ban group 'absurd'
A Palestine Action member has told the BBC it is "absurd" the government plans to proscribe the group, which would effectively brand it as a terrorist Taji Farouky said it "rips apart the very basic concepts of British democracy and the rule of law", adding: "It's something everyone should be terrified about."The BBC understands the home secretary is preparing a written statement to put before Parliament on comes after Palestine Action activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and sprayed two planes with red paint, an incident branded "disgraceful" by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Mr Farouky told the BBC he has a conviction for criminal damage related to a different Palestine Action described the potential move from the government as a "knee-jerk reaction" and said it was "being rushed through".When asked if the group should have been surprised by the move to proscribe it, given its actions, Mr Farouky said the government had tried to reclassify Palestine Action for years and it had "never been a tactic that scared" on whether the group had crossed a line by targeting a military site with a role in protecting the UK's national security, Mr Farouky responded by outlining the group's said Palestine Action's "whole reason for being is to break the material supply chain to genocide" and said Friday's incident was an "escalation in tactics because the genocide has escalated".Israel has strongly denied allegations of genocide relating to the ongoing war in Brize Norton serves as the hub for UK strategic air transport and refuelling, including flights to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. The air force has conducted reconnaissance flights over Gaza out of the Cyprus base. Footage posted online by Palestine Action on Friday showed two people inside the Oxfordshire airbase in darkness, with one riding on a scooter up to an Airbus Voyager and spraying paint into its jet sharing the footage, a spokesperson said: "Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US and Israeli fighter jets."The incident, which is being investigated by counter-terrorism police, prompted the government to launch a security review at military bases across the Friday, a spokesperson for Palestine Action said: "When our government fails to uphold their moral and legal obligations, it is the responsibility of ordinary citizens to take direct action."In a separate post on X, it said the group represented "every individual" who is opposed to Israel's military action in Gaza, adding: "If they want to ban us, they ban us all".Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the incident at RAF Brize Norton "disgraceful" on Friday, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said it was "deeply concerning".However, Amnesty International UK said on Friday that it was "deeply concerned at the use of counter terrorism powers to target protests"."Terrorism powers should never have been used to aggravate criminal charges against Palestine Action activists and they certainly shouldn't be used to ban them," the organisation added on social media. Palestine Action has engaged in activities that have predominantly targeted arms companies since the start of the current war in Gaza, with the group claiming responsibility in May for the daubing of a US military plane in UK's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Saturday it had "gone beyond protest to blackmail"."It's got to a point where they've started to say: 'We will carry on causing hundreds of millions of pounds worth of damage unless you stop'," Jonathan Hall KC Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the move to ban the group was "absolutely the correct decision"."We must have zero tolerance for terrorism," she wrote in a post on home secretary has the power under UK law to proscribe an organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000 if they believe it is "concerned with terrorism".To enact the move, new legislation will be needed, which must be debated and approved by both MPs and are currently 81 groups proscribed as terrorist organisations in the UK under the Terrorism reporting by Hollie Cole.
Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Scots traitor who lost eye fighting for Putin now pals with paedo US turncoat
The twisted pair enjoyed a meeting in their adopted homeland THE TRAITOR & THE PAEDO Scots traitor who lost eye fighting for Putin now pals with paedo US turncoat Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A SCOTS traitor who lost an eye fighting for Russia is now pals with a US fugitive wanted on paedo photos charges, we can reveal. Ross McElvenny, 26 — pictured for the first time with a patch — shook hands with disgraced American Air Force defector Wilmer Puello-Mota, 28. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Disgraced American Air Force defector Wilmer Puello-Mota Credit: AP 2 Ross McElvenny lost an eye fighting for Vladimir Putin in Ukraine The twisted pair, who signed up for Vladimir Putin's army after its bloody invasion of Ukraine, enjoyed a meeting in their adopted homeland. Next to the sickening social media snap, McElvenny gushed: 'I finally managed to meet Will Puello.' The half-blinded mercenary, from Newton Mearns, near Glasgow, is now a Russian citizen. And he has been travelling the country since leaving hospital after getting surgery on his left eye. Selfies he posted show him in the capital Moscow and also visiting Mamayev Kurgan, a huge memorial commemorating the savage Second World War Battle of Stalingrad, now called Volgograd. McElvenny, who also sustained serious shrapnel injuries after being shelled by Ukrainian forces, had previously shrugged off his plight, saying: 'St happens in conflict.' And the Kremlin squaddie, whose call sign is 'Whisky', insisted he had 'zero regrets'. The Rangers fan added: 'I came here to do what I could to support Russia. I love this country.' We told how McElvenny was hurt in a blast before being fitted with a 'fake eyeball inside what remained of my left eye'. He first hit the headlines last November after it emerged he had been injured while serving in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Scottish brewer fighting as mercenary for Putin in Russia Previously, he had studied IT at a college in Glasgow after attending Falkland House, a residential school for boys in Fife. We revealed he once had a work experience stint as a schoolboy with the Scottish Government at offices in Atlantic Quay, Glasgow. It was in a placement tailored for pupils with additional support needs. McElvenny told The Scottish Sun on Sunday: 'It was a s**y programme by a school I should have never been in the first place — so they could get some publicity.' He travelled to Russia on a tourist visa last August, then volunteered for Putin's 1099th Motorised Rifle Regiment. The renegade Scot is being probed by cops here and faces prosecution if he returns. We told in December how McElvenny had boasted of becoming 'a citizen of the Russian Federation' after a short ceremony. He called it: 'One of the happiest moments of my life.' His new chum Puello-Mota was in the US Air Force and Massachusetts International Guard before fleeing the sex rap and landing in Russia. The ex-city councillor in Holyoke, Massachusetts, was arrested in nearby Rhode Island in 2020 after cops found explicit images of an underage girl on his phone. He reportedly told officers he thought she was 22, and only later learned she was 17. Puello-Mota was later charged with forgery, counterfeiting and obstructing justice after claiming the seedy snaps were fake. He vanished in January last year, just two days before he was scheduled to answer the charges in a Rhode Island court. US authorities said he boarded a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul before disappearing. It is understood the fugitive, who used the call-sign 'Boston', has been fighting as a volunteer mercenary alongside Russian troops in the war with Ukraine. In April last year, footage from propaganda channels showed him signing a military contract. They have spun Puello-Mota's defection as a coup for the Moscow regime.
Times
2 hours ago
- Times
Chinese mega-embassy to be approved within weeks
A new Chinese super-embassy has been recommended for approval by the Planning Inspectorate, a decision expected to be waved through by the housing secretary, Angela Rayner, within weeks. The plans for the embassy in central London had been blocked amid warnings from British intelligence about its location and the espionage risk, but were revived after personal lobbying from President Xi. The Planning Inspectorate, an executive agency of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, is understood to have given the scheme the green light in a report which landed on Rayner's desk just under a fortnight ago. It follows a 12-day public inquiry in February. The decision, which is expected to be formally rubberstamped by Rayner before September, is likely to trigger a judicial review process.
