As Trump flies in for grand opening, the guest list diminishes amid outcry

Sunday 8 July 2012

The flamboyant New York billionaire, Donald Trump, flies into Scotland this week to open his controversial golf course under fierce attack for wrecking the environment, breaking planning rules and bullying his critics.

The Scottish Widlife Trust says Trump, above, has built half of his Aberdeenshire course on a unique protected area, nationally important for its sand dunes and wildlife dfadfad dfadfadf

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By Rob Edwards Environment Editor

The Sunday Herald can reveal that golfing authorities will be absent at his ceremonial opening at Menie on the Aberdeenshire coast, wildlife groups are calling on leading golfers to refuse to play half the course and politicians are condemning the whole saga as a "monumental embarrassment for Scotland".

All the accusations are brushed aside by the Trump Organisation, which promises a "world-class" golf links that people will enjoy "for centuries". The environment has been improved, not damaged, it claims.Perhaps the most serious criticism comes from the Golf Environment Organisation (GEO), the authority which certifies that courses are environmentally friendly."The golf development at Menie Estate has been widely, and in our view rightly, criticised for causing avoidable environmental damage and social disruption," said GEO's chief executive, Jonathan Smith."While its playing quality may well be extremely high, this is at the cost of considerable negative impact on what was one of the UK's most valuable mobile sand dune systems."Smith said no GEO representatives would be attending Trump's opening on Tuesday. The R&A will not be at the event either as it is overseeing The Open championship at Royal Lytham in Lancashire.First Minister Alex Salmond had been touted by Trump as a VIP at the opening, but he was not invited because of the fall-out between the two men over wind power. Instead, according to his spokesman, he will be at Castle Stuart on the Moray Firth to make an announcement about Scotland's junior golf development programme. Sir Sean Connery had also been mentioned by Trump as a potential guest, but it is understood that he may not be well enough to travel from his home in the Bahamas. According to the Trump Organisation, three of Scotland's top golfers will attend the opening, Colin Montgomerie, Paul Lawrie and Martin Laird. However, they are being urged by the Scottish Wildlife Trust not to play nine of the 18 holes in protest at environmental damage.Conservation director Jonny Hughes has written to the golfers pointing out that half the course has been constructed on a unique protected area, nationally important for its sand dunes and wildlife. "The construction of the course has killed the scientific interest of the dunes, and led to the loss of very rare wetland habitats," he said."We are asking them to protect the reputation of golf by sending a clear message that environmentally destructive golf course projects such as Trump's should have no place in Scotland. We are urging them to do the right thing, for the sake of golf and the environment."The Sunday Herald has also discovered that the golf clubhouse, car park and a sign erected by Trump at Menie have broken local authority rules. According to Aberdeenshire Council, the clubhouse design, the car park layout and a sign at the entrance were "breaches of planning conditions".The council has given "retrospective" planning permission for the clubhouse, is expecting a new application for an "amended" car park and is having "discussions" about the sign, said a council spokesman. "Any alleged breach of planning conditions will be investigated," he added.Green MSP Patrick Harvie Trump's leading parliamentary opponent, said: "Ego and vanity have been allowed to run amok, resulting in the ruination of people's lives and the wrecking of a unique swathe of Scotland's environment. "The whole saga has been a monumental embarrassment for Scotland and its governments. The way successive first ministers, council leaders and industry sucked up to this bully boy billionaire was utterly shameful."But George Sorial, Trump's executive vice-president, said: "Any assertion that we've destroyed something is without factual basis." "We've created a site that is beautiful, has protected what is there, and will remain a site that people will come and enjoy for centuries to come." There had been no environmental damage, he insisted."There so much misinformation about everything we've done there from the handful of critics that we have, most of whom haven't seen the site," he added.Sorial also launched a fierce personal attack on the Scottish director of an award-winning documentary about the golf course. He accused Anthony Baxter, whose You've been Trumped is being released in cinemas this week, of "shameless self-promotion"."When the course opens, the world will soon realise that Baxter's film was inaccurate," Sorial said. "It's about self-promotion on the back of the Trump name."But Baxter's producer, Richard Phinney, described the allegation from one of the world's greatest self-promoting organisations as "supremely ironic". Baxter's work had been done "at great personal cost", he said, and he had been complimented for his "integrity, bravery, skill and modesty".

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As Trump flies in for grand opening, the guest list diminishes amid outcry

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