Donald Trump’s Golf Course Plans Rise From The Dead, Given Approval

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by Michael dEstries November 4, 2008
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Sure, Halloween might be over, but that hasn’t stopped Donald Trump from working some black magic on his previously dead Scottish golf course plans. Back in November of last year, Trump was given the boot after the Aberdeenshire council voted against him — citing protection of the remarkable coastal sand dunes and the habitat of rare birds as more important.

The Scottish government, however, saw a little too much economic benefit in the $2.1 billion dollar project to pass up and stepped in to intervene. According to PlanetSave, the government defends the decision by pointing to the hundreds of jobs the 2,000-acre facility will create amid a damaged economy. The facility is expected to generate $100 million annually for the Aberdeenshire community.

The decision has, not surprisingly, upset environmentalists and scientists alike. “The crazy thing is that there could easily have been both golf and environmental protection at Menie,” said Jonny Hughes, head of policy at the Scottish Wildlife Trust. “This decision will mean needless destruction to a unique and nationally important site.”

Damn — a year ago I championed a victory of environment over money. Sadly, that battle has now been lost and two championship golf courses, an eight-storey five-star hotel, a golf academy, nearly 1,000 holiday homes and 500 private houses will be built in a protected area. The best we can hope for from this situation is that Trumps adopts the same low-impact, green building strategies that he’s put to work at his “Trump on the Ocean” on Long Island.

Yea, it’s a long shot.

via PlanetSave and GreenDaily


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About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

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  • RichT, Aberdeen

    “the town council of Aberdeen Scotland voted against him…”

    Hmm – if you’re going to blog, at least the the facts right. Aberdeen is a CITY for a start, but more importantly,it wasn’t Aberdeen City’s decision to take – it was the AberdeenSHIRE council & their Infrastructure Committee that made the wrong decision. The course is outwith the city boundary, so the Shire council had to decide – a decision with thankfully was taken out of the incompetent hands. For the record, Aberdeen CITY Council was IN FAVOUR of the development, but it was only an opinion, as they couldn’t vote. Thankfully common sense has prevailed.

  • http://www.ecorazzi.com michael

    Thanks, Rich! Corrected.

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