A FORMER Ministry of Defence torpedo testing station on the banks of a Scottish loch has been green lit for a major mixed-use tourism development site.
The 11-hectare site in in Arrochar on the banks of Loch Long has lain largely derelict since the torpedo station ceased operations in 1986, having opened in 1912.
The station was set up to test torpedoes manufactured for the Royal Navy at Greenock and Alexandria.
As a result of decades of inactivity, the Argyll and Bute site has become an ongoing source of frustration for residents, attracting fly-tipping, littering and anti-social behaviour despite measures to secure the site.
Proposed by the applicant Ardnagal Estates, the development includes 14 holiday homes, 34 holiday lodges, a 34-bedroom hotel, 20 glamping pods, six motorhome pitches, an outdoor play area, and associated parking and native landscaping.
The Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority said the project aims to deliver a range of accommodation and leisure services that will "complement and enhance existing provision in the area, without placing pressure on the surrounding landscape, biodiversity or local infrastructure".
Claire Chapman, the authority's planning and access committee chair, said: "The approval of this long-standing derelict site's redevelopment is a significant step forward in addressing what has been a blight on both the local community and the environment.
"The site has been identified in both the existing local development plan, which guides new development in the national park, and in the community's local place plan.
"Permission for this application also secures commitments from the developer to protect and enhance the site's natural environment, ensuring the area's landscape and environmental sensitivities are safeguarded for the long term, and will help bring the site back into positive use.
"That is a very welcome outcome for people, and for nature."
The delivery of the proposed development is now for the applicant to drive forward.
Previously, the Ben Arthur Development Company was given consent in 2012 for a five-star resort including a 130-bedroom hotel with 16 residential units and 36 apartments, however the planning permission lapsed.
In 2022, there were proposals to create a marine development with a marina but these also did not progress.
The National Park Authority’s approval is subject to a Section 75 legal agreement and a number of conditions to ensure all planning requirements are met.
