Trumped - golf jobs overwhelm environmental concerns

Posted by Ben

Donald Trump has finally won permission to build a 800 hectare golf resort in Scotland on an ecologically sensitive stetch of special sand dunes overlooking the North Sea. The planned resort, will include two 18 hole championship golf courses, four blocks of 950 timeshare flats, 500 ‘exclusive homes’, 36 villas, a golf academy and homes for 400 staff. Good for local jobs. Good for golfers. Less good for the environment. The controversial scheme, which had massive local opposition, will also now include contractually agreed “environmental checks”, a primary school, 50 low cost starter homes and 100 other low cost homes. The building programme will create up to 6000 jobs with an estimated 1400 long term and mostly local jobs in the future. The leader of the SNP and Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond, has welcomed the development and the Scottish Parliament have agreed that Aberdeenshire Council and Scottish National Heritage will be able to monitor the develeopment to ensure remaining wildlife is protected. But the question remains, will this ongoing ’protection’ of any value. To be frank, I doubt it.  Not much has worked so far. Part of the golf course is being built on contravention of existing legal protection for the Foveran links, the system of naturally shifting sand dunes which is already a designated site of special scientific interest under EU legislation - even Trump’s own ecologists were against building 9 holes over this special environment (as was the previously mentioned and now ‘empowered’ Scottish Natural Heritage).  The local council (by one vote it has to be said)  voted down the plans and inded the plans as now passed contravene Aberdeenshires local development plan with construction in the green belt. But Scottish ministers appointed planning inspectors found that the damage to the dunes was outweighed by the resort’s substantial value to the economy and overturned the local authority’s decision. In the words of Aeden Smith, head of the RSPB in Scotland “it appears that the desires of one high profile overseas developer, who refused to compromise one inch, have been allowed to override the legal protection of this important site”.