You didn’t really think Donald Trump would accept any ruling against him, even if it were correct, did you?
Trump has undoubtedly pulled some strings since his mega-golf development in Balmedie, north of Aberdeenshire was rejected by the local council.
Now, we hear the Scottish Parliament has called in the rejected application to consider it. Don’t be surprised if Trump, in the end, gets to build his course, which he typically boasts will be the best in the world.
The best PR Trump managed in the whole sordid episode is to get the talk centered primarily around his golf course. If it were just the golf course – two, actually – that were in question, his project would probably have passed.
But, it was the housing that derailed it, and that’s something the public didn’t hear much about.
“The development he had proposed is much more Myrtle Beach than Balmedie,"writes Alasdair Reid in The Telegraph “Golf was Scotland’s gift to the world; it would do better to stick to the original version rather than re-import its American form.”
Overdevelopment has already dramatically affected St. Andrews, the supposed, revered birthplace of golf.
“It has become a golfing theme park, where gaudy signs advertise discount shops and driving ranges at every turn,” Reid wrote.
Trump said he was doing a service to the area because his housing would address the area’s shortage. True enough, all the millionaires would have plenty of choices – Trump’s housing would have started at a million pounds.
Also, the beaches, which the public can currently enjoy, would have been fenced off.
Even so, I will not be surprised if the rejection gets overruled. Disgusted, but not surprised.
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Comment feed for this post
Brandon Tucker:
Katharine Dyson:
The Accidental Golfer:
Mark Nessmith:
A balanced article - and from a source that some would assume would have been taken in by Trump's blandisments.
To be fair to Trump, there were promises that the dunes wouldn't be fenced ... but promises are easily made and being greeted by Trump staff when one ventures onto the Estate can be intimidating to people who don't knwo their rights under the Scottish "Right to Roam" legislation.