Trump Golf Course Doc BBC2 Sunday, 21st Oct

[aeolium]

"The Edinburgh international film festival refused to screen it, claiming it was not of sufficient quality." - but The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus was

As the Guardian report indicates, the film-maker repeatedly sought an interview with Trump about the project but was refused one.

What is not addressed by the Trump supporters is the question of why a tycoon (foreign or not) can simply commandeer a site of special scientific interest for the development of a golf resort. If Richard Branson, say, were to pitch for a development along the Severn Estuary where there are several sites of special scientific interest, does anyone think he would have a hope of getting the go-ahead? Yet Branson is almost certainly a more popular figure in Britain than Trump. The thing is extraordinary.

[french frank]

What is not addressed by the Trump supporters is the question of why a tycoon (foreign or not) can simply commandeer a site of special scientific interest for the development of a golf resort. If Richard Branson, say, were to pitch for a development along the Severn Estuary where there are several sites of special scientific interest, does anyone think he would have a hope of getting the go-ahead? Yet Branson is almost certainly a more popular figure in Britain than Trump. The thing is extraordinary.

I agree. As the LSE academic said, an ordinary application to destroy an SSSI would be 'laughed out of court'.

Trump was given plenty of opportunity to state his case: he said the scheme had the support of environmentalists. And we heard a scientist reeling off the names of the environmental groups that were against it. Being able to destroy the 'special interest' of the site makes it rather pointless to give any site protected status (and the personal loss to the individual human beings is quite another matter).

[eighthobstruction]

This much earlier(2007) article sets the tone.....http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...=ILCNETTXT3487

[aeolium]

This much earlier(2007) article sets the tone.....http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...=ILCNETTXT3487

It is ironic that Trump & co were attacking political meddling when it was precisely political meddling by the Scottish government that interfered with the decision to reject the application taken by the local authority.

[french frank]

It is ironic that Trump & co were attacking political meddling when it was precisely political meddling by the Scottish government that interfered with the decision to reject the application taken by the local authority.

Hmm, quote from D. Trump, 25 April 2012:

"This [i.e the offshore wind farm] is the same thinking that gave you Al Megrahi, where they let him out of the prison because he’d be dead within two weeks. Well, guess what, he was seen running in the park last week.”

Really? Within a month (20 May) Al Megrahi was dead. Must have been all that exertion.

[DracoM]

Yes, and both the Cameron govt and Salmond's must be glad it's all happening a long way away form the London media.

The more you read about it, the more you see other articles on it, the filthier and filthier this whole deal gets. It stinks. Wish Panorama had spent more time on that than the Saville thing. I suspect there are some very nasty skeletons in the cupboard on this one. You just sense it.

[teamsaint]

Yes, and both the Cameron govt and Salmond's must be glad it's all happening a long way away form the London media.

The more you read about it, the more you see other articles on it, the filthier and filthier this whole deal gets. It stinks. Wish Panorama had spent more time on that than the Saville thing. I suspect there are some very nasty skeletons in the cupboard on this one. You just sense it.

The other Skeletons are the issue with saville also.....BIG questions in VERY high places, and if it happened then, its happening now....
But you are right, the golf course thing stinks big time.

[french frank]

Scottish Natural Heritage appears to be the advising body on SSSIs:

"Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) yesterday (16 August 2007) wrote to Aberdeenshire Council advising them that it must maintain an objection to the proposed development at Menie due to damage to Foveran Links Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

[...]

"The organisation says that one of the fundamental problems is the planned stabilisation of the dunes, which remains at the centre of the development proposal. The natural processes that shape the ever changing dunes and their habitats are at the heart of why the area is so special. Any stabilisation would stop these processes. It goes on to say that while moving some of the affected plants may be possible, it is unlikely to be possible to recreate the complex relationships between sand movement, vegetation and groundwater."

http://www.snh.org.uk/press/detail.asp?id=1770

[DracoM]

The other Skeletons are the issue with Saville also.....BIG questions in VERY high places, and if it happened then, its happening now....
But you are right, the golf course thing stinks big time.

Yes, of course the Saville events are appalling, and I gasped watching the Panorama programme, but the principles there are and always have been clear. IN the Scottish case at Menie, what we are seeing is another example, of the rich and famous writing the laws to suit themselves and actively and quite deliberately wrecking an SSI. How the heck does the Scottish Govt justify that? The sheer area under threat is huge. And Trump's openly avowed aim is to fly in shed loads of American rich to play on his course and stay in his hotel.

Erm...........so how much revenue goes into Aberdeenshire coffers while Americans tramp over a fine and unrepeatable environment. I sincerely hope that few or none of the world's famous golfers lend themselves to this appalling piece of shabby hubris. Colin Montgomerie is clearly disgusted, and I hope he makes sure other big names know what is REALLY going on in Menie.

[handsomefortune]

"The Edinburgh international film festival refused to screen it, claiming it was not of sufficient quality." - but The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus was

how typical!

[eighthobstruction]

AaaaaWWWW Bless....

>>>>>'His mother, the late Mary Anne MacLeod was born in the village of Tong, and brought up in a small, unassuming pebble-dashed house. Later, she was to marry Mr Trump's father Fred, a property developer, when she visited New York.

The house is a world away from the riches the American tycoon now enjoys, but he looked delighted as he met his Gaelic-speaking first cousins at the home.

And he admitted that he would probably have walked away from his plans to build a £1billion golf resort if his mother had not been from Scotland.

He was asked if he would have given up on his plans for the Aberdeenshire resort after they were initially rejected by the council had his mother not been from Scotland.

He said: 'I think probably I would have, yes.

'It is really easy to find a nice piece of land to do something nice on. But Scotland is special and I wanted to do something special for my mother.' <<<<<

[eighthobstruction]

http://caledonianmercury.com/2012/04/25/wind-farms-and-long-spoons-wee-eck-versus-the-donald/0032631

This from 2007....how on earth there has not been a Public Inquiry http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/sc...-resort-964558

[teamsaint]

Yes, of course the Saville events are appalling, and I gasped watching the Panorama programme, but the principles there are and always have been clear. IN the Scottish case at Menie, what we are seeing is another example, of the rich and famous writing the laws to suit themselves and actively and quite deliberately wrecking an SSI. How the heck does the Scottish Govt justify that? The sheer area under threat is huge. And Trump's openly avowed aim is to fly in shed loads of American rich to play on his course and stay in his hotel.

Erm...........so how much revenue goes into Aberdeenshire coffers while Americans tramp over a fine and unrepeatable environment. I sincerely hope that few or none of the world's famous golfers lend themselves to this appalling piece of shabby hubris. Colin Montgomerie is clearly disgusted, and I hope he makes sure other big names know what is REALLY going on in Menie.

as we all know...the answer, in the end is simple...five letters... money. It would be lovely to think that the thing will fail, and that nature will reclaim its own in time.
Its not like there aren't plenty of Golf courses.
I don't really want to make a political point, and I don't really have a view on devolution...but there may be important lessons to be learned for the scottish people in this. maybe a silver lining.
Maybe that's wishful thinking.

[Flosshilde]

Possibly, but that's a bit like arguing against republicanism by saying that Blair would be President. If Scotland became independent I'm not sure what would happen to the SNP - my feeling is that it would split. They've always had left & a right wing elements, unified only by independence.Currently they are trying to establish themselves as left of Labour, but during their previous, minority, government they had to make deals with the Tories to get their financial policikes through.

[DracoM]

And as for Robert Gordon University!! It made a really shaming joke out of itself, and compounded it by lecturing the press on the ethics of reportage! They really do have a nerve.