Trump is Set Back on Plans
For Scottish Golf Development
by Alistair MacDonald
From The Wall Street Journal Online
December 03, 2007
Donald Trump's plans to build a £1 billion ($2.08 billion) luxury golf-course development on a stretch of Scottish coastline were in limbo Thursday after a local council voted down his plans.
The vote by Aberdeenshire Council's Infrastructure Committee was a surprise defeat for the New York real-estate developer, who has been working on the development for several years.
Mr. Trump was considering appealing Thursday's vote or looking at an alternative site in the U.K.
"Mr. Trump is extremely unhappy and disappointed, professionally and personally," said George Sorial, managing director of Trump International Golf Resorts.
The plans included two golf courses surrounded by a five-star hotel, 950 time-share condominiums and luxury residences to be built on 1,400 acres of dunes and grass on the North Sea, about 10 minutes north of Aberdeen. But many locals rejected the project, saying it would be an eyesore on a stretch of unspoiled coastline.
Mr. Trump, who often referred to his own Scottish heritage during his battles, found himself pitted against a group of locals who rejected his attempts to buy up their land, including one whose farm would have been in the center of the development.
The plans were also criticized by national conservation and animal-protection agencies, which claimed they would hurt an area designated a "site of special scientific interest" by the British government, which gave it some legal protection from development.
"This is a site of scientific interest. If it is lost that is it, you can never replace it," said David Milne, whose house overlooks what would have been one of the golf courses.
Mr. Trump's organization said it would bring jobs and revenue into the area, and the project had backing from some local businesses. The Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce said that its local business members were "mainly" for the project. While Aberdeenshire is a prosperous area, its affluence is heavily reliant on the North Sea offshore oil-and-gas industry.
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