Plans for a luxury resort on the banks of Loch Lomond have been described as "truly sunk" after an environmental agency raised concerns about flooding at the site.

Ross Greer MSP - who has been a vocal opposer of the Flamingo Land bid for years - believes SEPA's fears about a serious flood risk across a large part of the proposed site is a "devastating" setback for developers Lomond Banks.

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) wrote to the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park - the body that will decide on the application - citing their "representation as an objection" if developers cannot "remove development from the flood risk area".

And Green MSP Mr Greer believes it is the final nail in the Lomond Banks coffin.

He said: “SEPA’s objection is a devastating rebuke to Flamingo Land and underlines just how badly thought through their destructive proposal is.

“The community have already made their overwhelming opposition known, but that hasn’t stopped Flamingo Land from coming back with this second, equally unwelcome plan. 

“With objections in from bodies like the National Trust for Scotland and now from our country’s environmental protection agency, Flamingo Land must finally acknowledge that their plans are well and truly sunk. 

“Loch Lomond is one of the jewels in Scotland's crown. An exclusive mega resort right on the edge of the Loch would be a scar on an iconic landscape, not to mention push it further out of reach for ordinary people.

“This latest intervention from SEPA should give the park authority the confidence they need to reject the application without delay and hopefully bring an end to this years-long saga.”

The national park wrote to Flamingo Land last year with a list of demands for clarification of their plans.

One of these demands was for the flood risk to be reassessed in light of the latest national planning policy. 

Jim Paterson, development director for Lomond Banks, said: “We have been liaising with SEPA for some time with regards to our adoption of National Planning Framework 4, and are working through the flood risk assessment based on meeting the criteria set out in the Agency’s policy 22 section A.

"This stipulates that they can support the redevelopment of previously used sites in built-up areas where the Local Development Plan has identified the need to bring these into positive use – which our proposals for Lomond Banks clearly demonstrate.

“We will continue to work with SEPA to reach a workable conclusion, satisfactory to all parties, and to ensure we fulfil our promise for delivering the sustainable commitments intended here.”

The developers dropped their previous plans in 2019 after a campaign led by the Scottish Greens submitted a record 60,000 objections.

More than 72,000 objections have already been lodged to the latest proposal, making it the most unpopular planning application in Scottish history.

While campaigners have been successful in forcing the developer to drop their plans to build in the ancient woodland at Balloch, the revised proposal would still see development on a huge scale, including over 100 self-catering lodges, two hotels, waterpark, a monorail, 372 car parking spaces and more.