This week's Community Column is written by Ross Greer, Green MSP for the West of Scotland region.

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It’s 1-0 to the public in our battle to save Loch Lomond from Flamingo Land.

They’ll be back, but this victory gives us breathing space and the chance to consider better options for our National Park.

I recently joined around 50 Balloch residents for a meeting to discuss those options. Some fantastic ideas emerged, underpinned by an overwhelmingly positive vision for Loch Lomond.

One area of strong agreement was the need for the area to stay an accessible and affordable gateway to the loch – so no exclusive, gated developments.

READ MORE: Flamingo Land withdraws Loch Lomond planning application

We also agree that any profits generated should stay in the local economy, and that if development did take place, it would have to be compatible with tackling the climate emergency, not make it worse through loss of trees, substantially increased traffic etc.

Balloch is and should be proudly showcased as the gateway to Loch Lomond and the West Highlands. For most visitors, though, having a car is essential to exploring the national park. As a result, the loch is a congestion hotspot, with parking chaos in most villages during tourist season.

For local communities and for the climate, we need to make Loch Lomond far more accessible by public transport.

READ MORE: Green MSP backs community's vision for Loch Lomond development sites

One speaker at the meeting told of how she regularly meets tourists who arrive at the loch and are flummoxed by the dearth of transport options. Popular tourist areas in other countries have easy-to-use transport networks, often with a single transferable ticket for buses, trains, ferries etc.

We need to bring together the bus and ferry companies, councils, the National Park and Scotrail to work towards a green transport plan for Loch Lomond and the Trossachs.

Imagine this: visitors can get to Balloch by a much improved rail link. They can buy a rover ticket giving them unlimited travel for the day.

READ MORE: Helensburgh's MSP gives support to Loch Lomond community buy-out move

A single map and timetable shows there’s a regular shuttle bus up each side of the loch, linked with boat services across it. The map shows where the popular walks and safe cycle routes start and all the buses and boats have space for plenty of bikes.

Last week’s meeting was bursting with ideas that we’re looking forward to sharing with you to develop further.

Whatever we progress, though, the feeling was clear that the future of Loch Lomond should be shaped by communities, not by bullying developers riding roughshod over the wishes of local residents.

READ MORE: Catch up with all the latest news stories from around Helensburgh and Lomond here