Aberdeenshire council has approved the latest stage of development for Donald Trump’s super-resort near Balmedie, meaning construction could start within a month. Trump himself has declared the course would be open within 18 months, which seems exceptionally ambitious – even for him!
Of course, Trump will still have to overcome the mighty Michael Forbes, who is still refusing to sell his farm to the Trump project. So far, even millionaire lawyers have failed to get any compulsory purchase orders bought upon Forbes, who has responded to their threats by spray painting his own buildings with anti-Trump slogans!
Conveniently however, the last couple of months have seen the passing of a new Scottish law, which allows the council to serve maintenance orders on homes and gardens, meaning Forbes will have to tidy up what Trump refers to as his “dump” of a property; “It is a pig sty. It's terrible, his barn is all rusty and falling down. The hotel has the chance to be something really outstanding but it's awfully hard when a window is overlooking a slum and you see rusting oil cans."
Perhaps Trump should consider that might be the effect Forbes is going for, after all the abuse he has received from the billionaire. Any way of being a thorn in Trump’s side seems like the kind of action Forbes will continue to take.
I'm sure all regular readers will know about Donald Trump's leviathon golf resort he is preparing to build in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. I'm sure you will also remember the amount of opposition he has come up against; from environmentalists to simple mentalists - Donald Trump has attracted a furious response from the people whose houses and homes he is destroying for the sake of his new golf course.
Nevertheless, as most billionaires seem to be able to do, Donald Trump has beaten them all and is going ahead with the course. The only thing left in his way is a tiny piece of land - half an acre of ex-car park - which he doesn't yet own. Now, normally this would result in some kind of bidding war, whereby lots of people would attempt to drive-up the price that billionaire Trump has to pay for the land. They might even succeed in buying it, just to sell it to Trump at an even higher price! Alternatively, somebody could out-bid Trump, take the land and not sell it to him - messing up his plans and making themselves a hero in the process.
Sadly, however, Aberdeenshire Council have granted Donald Trump 'special purchaser' status - meaning he is the only one allowed to bid for the land. So instead of there being a fair bid on the open market, Trump has been allowed to bid for the land privately, due to the "local economic benefits" the golf resort will bring. To you and I, this translates as "the free membership and executive suites that have been offered to members of the council".
It's yet another sad day for Scottish golf.
Donald Trump has finally begun work on his billion-pound golf resort in Scotland, the controversy of which I mentioned a few weeks ago. Regular readers will remember his declaration that protestors of the resort were “a tiny little group of people who are hanging by a thread” – the majority of whom have had to be re-housed to make way for his leviathan structure. Thanks Donald.
Apparently the plans are to plant grass on a stretch of sand dunes, in order to stablise them for development. This has environmentalists up in arms because these particular dunes are ‘environmentally sensitive’ and have been under protection for a long time. Although I expect 1,200 houses, a five-star hotel and two international-standard golf courses will probably benefit the economy of the surrounding area, I’m still ponderous of the impact this will have on Britain’s already terrible eco-reputation. It does seem slightly unfair that we are taxed, fined and then re-taxed in the name of recycling, just to have a rich American move in up North with a massive eco-disaster of a complex. Perhaps he’ll make the out-of-bounds areas into nature reserves... For some reason I doubt it.
Donald Trump – not our favourite person in the world – has managed to further entrench himself in our disgust by launching a new attack against quarryman and salmon fisherman Michael Forbes, who has been resisting the building of Trump’s billion-dollar golf resort. So far, Forbes has already turned down a million-dollar offer from Trump, reminding him that some people still put principles above money.
Trump called Forbes "dirty, sloppy and unkempt in his personal appearance and demeanour...He is a loser who is seriously damaging the image of both Aberdeenshire and his great country”. Unlike Donald Trump, who dresses well but still manages to make his country look even more like a bully by attempting to crush everything that stands between him and his dream golf resort.
Trump went on to call Forbes’s property “a disgusting blight on the community and an environmental hazard, with leaking oil containers, rusted shacks and abandoned vehicles dumped everywhere. It is a very poor image and representation for the world to see of Scotland”. Yet again, he has missed the point, as Martin Ford pointed out; "People see this as an issue of principle. Fundamentally, it is obviously wrong to throw a family out of their own home – a major, life-changing event – just because their presence is an inconvenience to a neighbouring landowner wanting to add to his property."
Amen Mr. Ford; I love golf, but I wouldn’t demolish somebody’s house if it got in the way of my drive!
Donald Trump has been accused by many, including Oscar-winning Tilda Swinton, of “bullying” Scottish residents into evicting their houses to make room for his new, $1.63 billion golf resort. Although Trump has had permission to build his state of the art course since 2008, protesters have continued to dog his steps ever since – claiming that it is unfair to move people from their homes and that the resort itself will be environmentally unfriendly. In times when there is huge pressure on every country to pay more attention to the environment, it becomes a very personal issue when an American chooses to build a large golf resort in the United Kingdom.
In response to the protests, Trump called Swinton “part of a tiny little group of people who are hanging by a thread”, adding that “I have all of my permits and approvals and we're going to start construction in three weeks" Not for the first time in his life, Trump has clearly missed the point; attacking people rather than principles and drawing attention only to what he has achieved, not what he has ruined in the process – a politician through and through.
Trump also boldly claims “93% of the public in Scotland are in favour of the project” – a statistic that it is likely he either completely made up, or comes from a very select opinion poll. As for his bullying tactics, since when have American politicians ever tried to bully Britain? Oh. Yes, of course.
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