THE major land owner in Luss has come under renewed attack over its plans for a major expansion of housing in and around the village.

Luss Estates wants to build 30 new family-sized homes on eight sites in Luss, Port o’ Rossdhu, Aldochlay, Arnburn and Muirlands.

And more than 50 objections have now been submitted to the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority protesting at the Muirlands proposals in particular.

The latest objection to plans for 10 new houses on three sites in Muirlands comes from Luss and Arden Community Council following an extraordinary meeting in Luss last Thursday.

Writing to the park authority’s planning department, LACC convener Ian MacEachern cites three grounds for the community council’s objection – the disproportionate scale of the development at Muirlands and the consequent impact on the natural and built environment, the dangerous nature of the B832 road as it passes by the three application sites, and drainage issues in the area which, it says, the applications do not address.

Mr MacEachern says: “The community council would urge the LLTNPA planning and access committee to view the three applications as a whole as they are contained within a tight package imposed on the existing natural and built environment.

“To adequately assess the impact of the development the committee is strongly encouraged to conduct a site inspection visit before reaching a decision on the applications.”

Thursday night’s meeting, in Luss Village Hall, was attended by almost every resident of Muirlands.

Among them was John Kelly, who said: “These applications would impose 10 houses on an existing small settlement in a very constricted area.

“There are sufficient causes for concern that these applications should be referred to the park authority’s planning and access committee and not just viewed by planning officers.”

But Luss Estates’ chief executive Simon Miller warned the company would have to carefully consider the viability of the overall 30-house plan if any individual application were to be rejected.

Mr Miller said: “Each application will be considered on its own merits. What is a package is the overall proposal and the balance between affordable housing, social housing and open market housing.

“If any individual application is rejected I’ll have to revisit the whole proposal. It isn’t a question of ‘30 houses or none’, but the overall package will have to change if any of these applications are turned down.”

Mr Miller also said the percentage increase in house numbers at the other application sites was even greater than in Muirlands.

In addition to the 10 proposed new homes in Muirlands – four on a site to the north of the existing houses in the area, five to the south, and one in the middle – Luss Estates is also seeking planning permission for 11 houses north of Hawthorn Cottage in Luss, opposite the village sports field; four houses on two sites next to Oakbank Cottage, Port o’ Rossdhu; three houses south of Estate Road, Arnburn; and two houses at Aldochlay Bay.

So far there have been no objections to any of the proposals other than the ones in Muirlands.