Councillors ready to back Trump's plans for golfing resort

Published on Wednesday 2 June 2010 23:17

DONALD Trump's masterplan for his massive golf resort in Aberdeenshire is set to be approved by local councillors next week.

• Donald Trump at the Meanie sand dunes. Picture: Greg Macvean

But should the Trump Organisation fail to reach agreement with homeowners on the additional land the organisation claims to need for the development, a revised masterplan will have to be submitted to the local authority, council planners warned.

Planning officials are recommending that the tycoon's key document for the controversial 750 million development on the Menie estate should be rubber-stamped at a meeting of the council's Formartine area committee on Tuesday.

Four homeowners living on the edge of the Menie estate fear their homes may be seized through compulsory purchase to pave the way for Mr Trump's golf resort.

And a report on the masterplan, made public yesterday, reveals that the council received 162 letters objecting to the Trump proposals and only one in support.

The vast majority of the objections centred on the failure of the masterplan to show the existing homes on the site.

One of the letters came from Sheila Forbes, the wife of Michael Forbes, the Menie smallholder whose home was branded a "slum and pig sty" by the American tycoon during his visit to Scotland last week. In her letter, Mrs Forbes states: "I am sorry but I do not agree with what is going on and I strongly object to the plans.

"I would like to know why my house is not shown in Mr Trump's plans. All it is on his plans is just a series of little black dots. I did ask when I went to see their masterplan but I did not get a proper answer from them. I think it is a bit unfair of them, especially when the house is on their site."

Mrs Forbes adds: "I think it is a disgrace that Mr Trump is getting away with the mess he is making of the sand dunes. But no-one seems to be interested in what they are doing."

In the report to the committee, planning officer Sonya Galloway states that the objectors argue that the masterplan is inaccurate and invalid as properties outwith the ownership of the applicant have been "airbrushed" from the plans. The masterplan also makes the assumption that existing private properties will cease to exist if the development goes ahead.

In a letter to the council, Sue Lawrence, the area officer for Scottish Natural Heritage, states: "SNH is supportive of the design development of the resort development at Menie.

"We believe the resultant masterplan illustrates a more sympathetic and intuitive layout, which better reflects the varied sensitive landscape characteristics across the site."