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Donald Trump has said he could leave the United States if he loses the White House to Joe Biden next month. If so, you’ve just been given the perfect place to spend your last days golfing at a brand new course in Aberdeenshire, the second in the area.
However, if Trump chooses that option, he can expect a solid welcome from conservationists. They say the Aberdeenshire council planners’ decision last week to approve the course could have a catastrophic impact on the area’s sensitive environment.
Trump International Golf Links Scotland built a course on the Menie estate, north of Aberdeen, in 2012, and its construction has been blamed for severely damaging the spectacular dune system at nearby Foveran Links, an official site of special scientific interest ( SSSI).
As a result, conservation experts urged the Aberdeenshire council to withhold planning permission for the second golf course at Menie that Trump had asked to build. But in September last year, local councilors ignored his warnings and recommended that the proposal be given the green light.
Activists had since lobbied the Aberdeenshire council planning service to reverse that decision, but announced on Friday that it had decided to go ahead and grant full planning permission for the new course. He stated that the new course “will contribute to the significant social and economic benefits that are expected to be obtained from the broader development proposals within the Menie estate.”
This optimism is not shared by conservationists. They say the decision means that Foveran’s SSSI status, given its unusual quicksand and diverse plant life, will have to be completely phased out in the coming months.
“This decision gives the Trump organization the green light to continue shattering and destroying Scotland’s natural heritage,” said Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and Environment. “The Aberdeenshire Council and the Scottish Government have ignored Scottish Natural Heritage’s objections about possible further damage to world-famous sand dunes that are supposed to be protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, but have already been partially destroyed by the construction of the first golf course “.
The new 18-hole course will be known as MacLeod Course in honor of Trump’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born and raised on the Hebride island of Lewis before immigrating to New York. The field will be built to the south and west of the original.
Trump originally won approval for his “Trump property” encompassing the protected dunes because he promised to create up to 6,000 jobs by building a five-star hotel with 450 rooms, shops, a sports complex, timeshare flats, two golf courses and urbanizations. However, so far he has built only one 18-hole course, which is open seven months a year, a driving range, and a small clubhouse with restaurant and shop; he also converted Menie’s manor house into a 16-room boutique hotel.
With just over a fortnight to Election Day, the chances of Trump spending more time on his golf courses appear to be increasing. His Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, leads by 17 points in the latest Opinium Research /guardian survey. More than 18 million votes have already been cast.
In addition to leading national opinion polls, Biden is also consistently in the lead in a number of crucial watershed states. Last week he even won the ratings war: More Americans tuned in to watch his Q&A on ABC than Trump’s version on NBC.
Aberdeenshire residents can see Trump soon, win or lose. According to www.trumpgolfcount.com, Trump has played more rounds of golf as president than any other resident of the White House. He has visited their golf clubs 280 times during his presidency, playing 140 times.
