Loch Lomond wedding venue plans rejected

The Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority's planning and access committee refused to grant planning permission for a complex of six buildings for weddings, functions and overnight accommodation.

The application, for a site on the Wards Estate near Gartocharn, was originally submitted in 2016, but has been subject to a series of reviews and impact assessment studies because of the sensitivity of the site.

It attracted objections from the local community council, the RSPB, the Friends of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs charity, local MSP Jackie Baillie and almost 40 individual objectors.

A report to the committee, prepared by case officer Alison Williamson, said: "This proposal does not comply with the relevant policies of the Local Development Plan, and there are no material planning considerations which would justify a departure from the plan."

"The proposed development would be medium to large scale development within the countryside and it has not been demonstrated through the business plan and other supporting information submitted that the proposed development would bring benefits to the local economy and/or the local community."

Ms Williamson said in her report that the application was contrary to the National Park's policies on housing and 'visitor experience', and that granting permission "would set an undesirable precedent for larger scale developments within the National Park that do not comply with Local Plan policy, making it difficult to resist further proposals for development".

James Fraser, chairman of the Friends of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, said: "We are pleased plans for this major development have at long last been rejected which means the special high value landscape and nature conservation qualities of the area that sweeps down to the southern shores of Loch Lomond near Gartocharn will be protected from further creeping suburbanisation.’

"The plans for a large functions venue and associated mansion houses and swimming pools were totally inappropriate in this scenic location and right next to the RSPB National Nature Reserve which is home to a rich variety of wildlife and an important staging post for migrating geese.’’