Greens warn irregularities could make Government’s actions on Flamingo Land unlawful
Scottish Greens MSP Ross Greer has warned that the Scottish Government’s handling of the planning appeal by Flamingo Land could be unlawful.
This comes after the MSP and Save Loch Lomond campaigner’s legal advisor sent a detailed letter of concern to the Government and lawyers for Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park Authority criticised the new process as “highly unorthodox”.
Specific concerns include the reappointment of the same official who previously recommended that Flamingo Land’s mega-resort be given permission to go ahead. This official will now lead on the recall case and make a new recommendation to Ministers, which Greer’s legal advisor Ian Cowan warned risks making the process ‘tainted by bias’.
Another concern raised in the letter is the apparent contradiction in the dates of specific documents.
The document formally reappointing the previous official to prepare a new report for Ministers was published on July 4th, having apparently been signed off by a senior planning official on June 24th.
However, the document’s properties show that it was created on July 4th, shorty after the publication of a separate document from this official which laid out the new process.
The appointment document also did not carry the digital signature of the relevant senior official.
The full letter from Mr Greer’s legal advisor can be read here.
Commenting, Ross Greer MSP said:
“The public and the experts have said again and again that Flamingo Land’s destructive application must be rejected. The National Park did the right thing last year when they unanimously said no to this daft mega-resort. And when SNP Ministers were about to overturn that decision and let it go ahead, we forced them into a u-turn.
“But since then the Scottish Government has made some deeply questionable decisions. They refuse to hold any public hearing and have asked the same official who tried to approve the plans to “mark his own homework” by making recommendation for a fresh decision.
“Now they’re asking Flamingo Land to draft their own planning conditions on their own terms, against the wishes of the National Park. Is it any wonder that local people get the feeling that the cards are being stacked against them?
“I hope there is a simple explanation for this inconsistency in the date of the official’s appointment, because it is hugely concerning. There needs to be full transparency here if the public are to have any confidence in this process. As it stands, the timeline just doesn’t add up and that’s a massive cause for concern.”