nov29 trumpblow
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Donald Trump’s Scottish golf dream seems to be over.
The American billionaire hoped to create a £1billion golf resort on the Menie Estate in Aberdeen but those plans are now in tatters after being rejected by Aberdeenshire councillors.
Trump’s controversial project was given outline planning approval last week, but nosedived by the narrowest of margins – the casting vote of chairman Martin Ford – following a tied vote of Aberdeenshire Council’s infrastructure committee.
Trump is bound to be gutted by the decision. He had high hopes that one of the two links courses he planned to build on the site would be good enough to stage an Open Championship.
It remains to be seen whether he will appeal against the verdict, but it’s fair to assume he will do just that. The Donald isn’t defeated that easily and rarely goes quietly…
His spokesman George Sorial confirmed: “Obviously we’re very disappointed and it’s our position that the council has failed to adequately represent the voice and opinion of the people of Aberdeen and the shire who are ultimately the losers here.”
“I think we’ve been very frank all along – we do have options elsewhere in the UK and we will sit down now and look at that. We haven’t made a formal decision yet.”
Opposition to the scheme included environmental groups and some local residents who claimed that the resort would have a major impact on wildlife and would destroy this breathtaking stretch of coastline.
