flamingo crossings village visitor policy

Flamingo crossings village visitor policy full#

The other key point to note is that WDC and TS both advised Stantec (para 7.1.5) they should focus their surveys on non-peak periods to provide a “neutral” assessment according to industry standards, ie an indication of mean traffic travels during the course of the year. The only surprise for a village which attracts traffic in the holiday season is the drop wasn’t even bigger! In terms of the validity of the survey, it is also worth noting there was no comment about the weather on either day which could also impact on the results. While the original survey was for early September, still the holiday season, the repeat survey was in November and the second half of the month at that. This is explained in the revised Transport Assessment (Vol 2 Appendix 12.1 to the Environment Impact Assessment (see here)

The drop in car numbers may come as a surprise to people who visited the village post lockdown but there is a good explanation for this, the new traffic surveys were not comparing like with like and don’t provide data for holiday periods. When the repeat survey purported to show that traffic in Balloch had dropped, WDC roads endorsed the 2017 survey as a suitable basis for taking planning decisions.

Flamingo crossings village visitor policy full#

Rather than requiring a full new assessment, WDC asked for a limited new survey to “check” the applicability of the previous data. The original Transport Assessment conducted on behalf of Flamingo Land and referred to by WDC in their response took place in 2017. Illustration of flaws in the Transport Assessment Stantec, the agents for Flamingo Land, have not yet replied to that. That neither had done their job properly was confirmed in the letter the LLTNPA sent to Flamingo Land’s agents on 17th November asking for further information on numerous aspects of the development including traffic and parking: “Quantum” is just jargon for amount In effect through their responses TransportScotland and WDC roads dumped all responsibility for looking at the traffic and parking implications of the development to the LLTNPA.

Like TransportScotland, WDC road appear to have little idea we are in a climate emergency – what does “sufficient EV charging points” mean? – and no concern about what impact the development might have on parking by local residents and businesses. It appears from this that WDC did not check whether the various numbers quoted in Flamingo Land’s application for increased traffic and parking added up but simply accepted them. There was, however, some information in an appendix: West Dunbartonshire Council roads services response was not much better, most of the tick boxes on their standard form were left blank, except those which stated they had no objection and required no further information on the traffic or parking implications. It should be obvious that creating a major visitor attraction at Balloch will impact on those problems so why hasn’t TransportScotland commented? The answer (see below) is they appear to be party to the assessent although nowhere is this stated in their response. Southbound traffic can snarl up from Dumbarton back to Luss and beyond with pinch points at places like Cameron House where vehicles try to join the main road. This will come as a surprise to anyone has tried to use the A82 regularly at peak periods like Bank Holidays. One might have at least hoped they might have commented on the Transport Assessment conducted by Flamingo Land which implies the development will have little impact on the trunk road network. Road transport is responsible for much of our carbon emissions but despite the Scottish Government’s commitment to reduce those emissions, TransportScotland appears unconcerned about the likely impact of Flamingo Land on this let alone atmospheric pollution. TransportScotland (see here) said nothing at all, they just ticked a box labelled “ The Director does not propose to advise against the granting of permission”.

Surprisingly neither response had anything substantive to say about the traffic and parking implications of what is a major development. Both Transport Scotland, responsible for the A82 and the strategic transport network, and West Dumbartonshire Council (WDC), responsible for the roads and parking in the village responded quickly to the application. Road safety and traffic impact assessments are a standard part of development planning and the authorities responsible for roads are consulted by Planning Authorities as a matter of course. Transport Scotland & West Dunbartonshire Council Roads position on the development