AFFtheClyde says Loch Long farm undermines public land legacy.
Community campaign group AFFtheClyde has condemned the Scottish Government’s decision to approve Loch Long Salmon’s semi-closed containment farm in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.
The National Park Authority refused permission for the project in 2022, and the Scottish Government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division subsequently recommended that an appeal be dismissed. Ministers have now set aside both decisions, allowing the development to go ahead.
AFFtheClyde said the ruling “ignores the views of planning professionals, environmental experts, the independent planning reporter and the Loch Long communities affected by this untrialled technology.”
The group also raised concerns over the semi-closed containment system proposed for the farm, citing a lack of clarity around waste capture and disposal. It pointed to operational problems at a similar facility in British Columbia.
In addition to environmental concerns, AFFtheClyde argued that the project undermines the intentions of Archibald Corbett, the Glasgow politician who gifted the Ardkinglas estate — the site of the proposed development — to the people of Glasgow in 1905. Corbett said at the time it was “desirable that our fellow-citizens should have a mountain territory which will be their own for all time.”
“Sadly, our elected representatives have ignored Mr Corbett’s wishes and have ceded to multi-national fish farm opportunists,” the group said.
