MORE than 30 new Loch Lomondside holiday homes could be created if a proposed major development is given the go ahead.
Documents submitted as part of a pre-application screening notice to the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority reveal plans to build 33 chalets on land near McGregor’s Landing in Ardlui, north of Arrochar.
Manchester-based applicants SSH Trading Ltd also hope to construct a children’s playground and 60 car parking spaces at the near-eight-hectare site.
In an environmental impact assessment screening report document published in the National Park’s planning portal, the applicants state: “Residential units are to be located to the northern and western half of the site, with associated parking occupying the eastern edge.
“A children’s playground and associated landscaping will occupy the southern half of the site.
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“It is anticipated that construction of the proposed development will be phased over a period of three years.”
Design support for the proposed development is being provided by ICDP Architects, an architectural design practice based in the west of Scotland.
The report adds: “ICDP Architects has expertise in providing design services for housing, offices, listed historic buildings and community buildings.
“ICDP Architects has previously undertaken work in the vicinity of Ardlui. For example, the company provided design services for two five-star holiday cottages on the banks of Loch Lomond in 2011.
“In 2018, they designed a development to replace four existing holiday chalets and a recreational building, comprising eight chalets, a manager’s office, one recreational building (gym and sauna) in addition to car parking and landscaping.”
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The former Ardlui outdoor centre - which closed in 2015 - lies adjacent to the site’s southern boundary, with a holiday park, the Ardlui Hotel and marina beyond.
The site is currently dominated by woodland and the applicants say the proposed development “has the potential for effects on the special qualities of the Loch Lomond area”.
“However,” the report adds, “effects on the general qualities or integrity of the National Park as a whole are unlikely.
“Given the nature of the proposed development, it is considered that there are likely to be positive effects on socio-economics and tourism as a result of the introduction of additional accommodation for visitors to the area.”
The proposed development is not yet the subject of a full application for planning permission.
To view the outline proposals in full, search for PSC/2020/0001 at eplanning.lochlomond-trossachs.org.
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