Golf or Wildlife?

Much to the disappointment of local environmental groups , the Scottish government has finally given Donald Trump permission to build what he describes as “The greatest golf course in the world,” in a remote part of Aberdeenshire, along with 1500 homes. Originally rejected by Aberdeenshire Council, the Scottish government decided to over-rule the local council’s decision in favor of “economic and social benefits.”

Mr. Swinny, Finance Secretary, who made the decision after a lengthy public inquiry, said,

This is a development which has been a long time in the planning and, from all of the indications, we know has been something to which the Trump Organisation has been seriously committed for many years. We are now in a position where we can see that development taking its course and what’s important is that the decision I have arrived at today gives a clear signal to the international community that in these difficult economic times, Scotland is open for business.

A spokesman for SNH said,

The inquiry report clearly accepts the extent of the adverse impacts the development will have on the fragile dune system, but has concluded that in this particular case this is outweighed by social and economic benefits.

This is good news for those developers who felt in some way constrained by any environmental concerns. The Scottish government has now made it clear that these concerns will not prevent them from changing the laws to suit developers as needed. The area in question was previously protected by law from any development of this type, but it seems economic considerations are more important than protecting the environment to the Scottish government. After a lengthy battle between local councilors, environmental groups and Mr. Trump and other business leaders, the decision to allow the development to proceed was announced on Monday. The plan includes two golf courses; 950 vacation condominiums; 26 “golf villas;” a 450 bedroom, ten storey Gothic hotel; a spa and conference center and 500 homes, some 100 of which must be “affordable.”

Mr. Trump was clearly pleased with the decision, and insisted that the current financial crisis would not prevent him from moving ahead as fast as possible, although he still has some hurdles to overcome. Outline planning permission has been given, but detailed plans must now be submitted to Aberdeenshire Council before work can begin on the project. Environmental impact will have to be “assessed and monitored.”

Another hurdle to overcome is Michael Forbes. Mr. Forbes owns a small farm in the middle of the proposed development which sits adjacent to the front nine and directly between the links and the proposed hotel. When asked if Trump came to him with an open checkbook, would he ever sell? Mr.Forbes replied,

Never. Never to Trump. Someone else, I might consider. In the beginning, I never minded about a golf course. As long as they don’t damage the dunes, it doesn’t bother me. But I don’t agree with the hotel and houses. They should be building houses young folk who’ve just been married can afford, not for the rich.

The decision is a clear turn around by the SNP government, who were elected on a commitment to sustainable development and environmental protection, although it would seem to have been a foregone conclusion that this is the decision that would be reached. Due process has been seen to be observed, laws have been changed to suit and Scotland gets another golf course at the expense of the local habitat. No surprises there then. Helen McDade of the John Muir Trust said,

The government’s reasoning seems to be that it is OK to ignore any number of protections that are in place to safeguard Scotland’s environment, provided there is a big enough buck to be made at the end of it.

The real question now remains as to whether there will still be enough demand for this type of property in the short to medium term. Mr. Trump may be confident that he has the financing and political clout to get the development approved and built, (as am I) but the economic downturn will likely have some impact on the demand for a luxury development of this scale. This is a huge development, not a small boutique development such as the one recently announced by Tiger Woods in Mexico. From the environmental standpoint, the financial crisis would seem to be a blessing in disguise.

Donald Trump made his feelings clear over his proposed “world’s greatest golf course,” once again yesterday during a public inquiry in Aberdeen. He is a committed environmentalist.

He went on to claim that the planned $2 billion Scottish golf course is “a disgusting killing field.” and “is littered with hundreds of carcasses of birds and animals shot by hunters.”

The plant life, the habitat life, every aspect of life will be preserved and enhanced when we build this golf course.

Right now, that site is a killing ground for birds. The folks who want to save birds will be very happy with what I want to do.

When I build the golf course, they won’t be killing any birds.

We’ll be trying for birdies and eagles, but there will be no birds killed. We are not going to allow that to happen. So I would think that the bird protection people would embrace what I am doing.

It’s sort of disgusting, there are bird carcasses lying all over the site, there are dead animals all over the site that have been shot.

Maybe some people are into that - I’m not.

When you walk over the site, there is rubbish on the site, there is garbage on the site, there is dumping on the site.

The site is a mess. It’s a total mess and if we get approval, you won’t get that.

Martin Ford, the councilor who lost his committee chairmanship in the wake of the original decision to turn down the scheme accused the tycoon of showing “little understanding” of certain details of his application.

Trump responded by saying: “No one has ever told me I don’t know how to buy property before. I appreciate that.

Aberdeenshire Council rejected the plans for 2 golf courses, a four-hundred-plus-bedroom hotel, more than nine hundred vacation flats and numerous other buildings. But the Scottish government, presumably more amenable to “persuasion,” not actually having to live in the area, set up an inquiry into the matter. The usual course of events is to abide by the local council’s decision, but the Ministers will make the final decision.

A large variety of environmental groups oppose the plan as part of of the championship course would be built on sensitive sand dunes in a protected site of special scientific interest. The Scottish government’s chief reporter for public inquiries, James McCulloch, silenced the public benches when Trump’s claims to be an environmentalist brought a noisy response.

Trump’s response:

If I don’t get to build and create something magnificent, it would be a terrible, terrible blow to Scotland.

Which has to be one of my favorite quotes of the year. Mr Trump seemed to actually enjoy the inquiry and I suspect, that much like myself, he just likes a good argument.

It would also appear that Mr Trump has chosen to ignore warnings from his own paid consultant that the plans would be detrimental to the environment, reports the Sunday Herald.