Menie families act to change eviction laws

Published on Friday 7 January 2011 13:48

FAMILIES who fear they could be evicted from their homes to pave the way for Donald Trump's golf resort have lodged a petition at Holyrood calling on MSPs to remove the threat of compulsory purchase being used for private developments.

The owners of four homes on the Menie estate bordering the Trump development have been living under the threat of having their properties seized by compulsory purchase since February last year, when the sites of their properties were included in the approved masterplan for the American's 750 million complex.

The Trump Organisation has consistently said an approach to Aberdeenshire Council to use compulsory purchase powers to seize the homes will be used only as an "option of last resort".

But the families living on the estate, who are refusing to sell their homes to the Trump Organisation, have accused the tycoon of planning to "steal" their land in a modern-day version of the Highland Clearances.

David Milne, whose home at Hermit Point is one of the four properties under threat, said yesterday the families were now seeking the support of Holyrood's public petitions committee for a radical change in planning laws to protect residents from the threat of compulsory purchase.

He said: "The petition urges MSPs to tighten up the law to prevent future abuses of planning rules, drawing on the failings of the system in Aberdeenshire.

"The petition has two aims: first, to ensure residents elsewhere in Scotland never face the same kind of bullying planning applications on land they own and, second, to give greater protection to the kind of Sites of Special Scientific Interest under threat at Menie."

He added: "The Trump saga in Aberdeenshire has revealed many things - that neither local government nor Scottish ministers can be relied upon to stand up either for Scottish residents or our unique natural environment, that Mr Trump's ego will not compromise with anyone, and that the Scottish planning system is skewed in favour of developers no matter how ill-conceived their project may be."

Mr Milne said he was still hopeful the project will not go ahead, but that "lessons must be learned" from the controversial planning application.

The petition was yesterday supported by local councillor Martin Ford, a long-standing opponent of the Menie development.

He said: "The residents threatened with compulsory purchase have learnt the hard way just how little protection they have from a predatory developer who sees his neighbours simply as obstacles to be removed.

"They are to be commended for drawing the shortcomings they have identified to the attention of the Scottish Parliament."