SADLY you seem to have been largely taken in by the hysteria whipped up by an irresponsible misinformation campaign. One example is Allanah Maurer’s story of learning to swim “..
.in the very bay they want to develop” ("Passions running high in battle over plan to develop the Bonnie Banks", The Herald, August 17). This presumably is a reference to the lagoon created by the extraction of sand and gravel when the Loch Lomond Shores site was a quarry.
The developers have no intention of preventing people from swimming in the now-clear waters of the loch. On the contrary, they have every intention of improving the quality and safety of the lagoon beach area, which, like the rest of the site, will continue to be open to the public. There is to be an indoor pool which will be open to the public too.
The truth is the application area was formerly mainly taken up by railway sidings and a caravan park and it has long been zoned for recreational and tourism development. There is no reliable evidence the development will materially damage the woodland on the site, nor will it threaten the character or economy of Balloch or the wider special qualities of Loch Lomond or the National Park. On the contrary, it will benefit Balloch and the wider area in terms of increased economic activity and jobs, both on site and throughout the area.
It will have a negligible impact on the A82, which already sees around six million vehicles a year. It will also help to secure the future of the paddle.