| Donald Trump is on the brink of abandoning
his plans for the "world's greatest golf course" near Aberdeen
after claiming his £750m project is being threatened by an offshore
windfarm.
The billionaire property developer has disclosed he has frozen
plans to build the second 18-hole golf course, the five-star
hotel, the luxury villas and houses and the timeshare apartments
that make up the planned resort until a final decision is
made on the small wind-power project.
Instead, the scheme will feature only the first golf course,
which is now due to open slightly earlier than expected -
in June - and a small, temporary clubhouse. That building
would, Trump said, eventually be replaced by a large, "super-luxury"
clubhouse, for which Aberdeenshire council has just granted
planning permission.
However, Trump's threats are fuelling suspicions that he
is using the windfarm, known as the European
offshore wind deployment centre, as a reason to abandon
the golf resort rather than admit the project is no longer
viable or affordable.
His criticisms of the scheme have intensified significantly
over recent months and included a direct
appeal to Alex Salmond, the first minister. Initially
an enthusiastic supporter of Trump, Salmond has refused to
intervene over the windfarm, which has already been substantially
reduced in scale.
In a statement issued from his New York headquarters, Trump
said - "All further plans for future development, including
the hotel, are now on hold until the Scottish government makes
a decision on the application for the European offshore wind
deployment centre submitted by Vattenfall and Areg (Aberdeen
renewable energy group).
"If the north-east of Scotland is serious about tourism and
creating a global golf destination, it cannot allow the coastline
to be ruined by an ugly industrial park (eleven 64-storey
test turbines) directly off the shoreline."
Trump admitted in June that the global recession had forced
him to delay construction of the five-star hotel, apartments
and large luxury housing estate, which were at the centre
of the resort plans. He said "the world has crashed" since
he bought the Menie estate in Aberdeenshire and its vast area
of dunes in 2005. Trump is now linking the delay to the windfarm,
a position he did not take in June.
David Milne, an immediate neighbour and a critic of Trump,
who has resisted pressure to sell his home to the developer,
said - "I firmly believe he is just trying to sell. The planning
permission he gained [for the clubhouse] was the final piece
to increase the sale value of the golf course. That is the
only reason they bothered going for it."
Suspicions about Trump's tactics have intensified because
there have been clear signals that the windfarm project is
extremely likely to be approved, as it is central to the Scottish
government's strategy of making the country a global leader
in windfarm technologies.
Backed by the European commission, it will be a testbed for
some of the most advanced offshore wind turbine designs. The
£200m project, which will be 2.5km (1.5 miles)south-east of
the Menie estate coastline, is also being championed by many
of Trump's prominent supporters in Aberdeenshire. The consortium
behind it includes Aberdeenshire council, which backs Trump's
resort.
Trump's director of international development, George Sorial,
denied Trump was using the windfarm as an excuse to abandon
the project. It was "absolutely ridiculous and there is not
a shred of evidence" to support such a claim, he said.
Sorial said local opposition to the wind farm was sharply
increasing and he predicted it would be rejected. Trump's
threat was designed to underline his determination to resist
the wind farm, he said.
Sorial added - "We have spent now approximately £100m and
we have built the greatest golf course in the world. We are
not abandoning anything. We will fight and defeat the wind
farm. We are not going anywhere."
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