The Trump Organization is facing a fresh dispute with Scottish planners and conservationists over the protection of rare dunes and wildlife at its Aberdeenshire golf resort. The company, now run by Donald Trump’s son Eric, has applied to Aberdeenshire Council to remove a requirement to run an environmental advisory group that oversaw construction on the protected dune system.
The group, known as the Menie Environmental Monitoring Advisory Group (Memag), was originally proposed by Trump’s advisers to placate environmental groups and the Scottish Natural Heritage agency. It was a condition of the planning permission granted in 2008, but the Trump Organization closed it down in 2013, claiming it had “fulfilled its purpose”. Conservationists have expressed alarm at the move.
The Trump Organization now wants to replace Memag with annual environmental inspections for the next three years. However, Scottish government planning inspectors ruled in December that “robust” environmental monitoring of any new building was needed at the site, which is part of a legally protected Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). They said ecological monitoring may need to be strengthened.
The inspectors also objected to Aberdeenshire Council’s proposals to include Trump’s latest plan to build 850 private homes and 1,900 leisure accommodation units, as that scheme differed too much from the 2008 master plan. They insisted the company stick to the original plan, which would require it to pay for a primary school and affordable homes if it builds a timeshare complex and private housing estate.
James Reynolds of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland said the Trump Organization’s environmental commitments “never seemed like anything more than ‘greenwash’ at the time of application, in a cynical bid to secure planning permission”. The council is expected to accept the inspectors’ recommendations on Thursday 9 March.
