The Trump Organization is facing a new dispute with Scottish planners and conservationists over environmental protections 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 a protected dune system.
The Menie Environmental Monitoring Advisory Group (Memag) was originally proposed by Trump’s advisers to placate environmental groups and the government conservation agency Scottish Natural Heritage. It was a condition of the 2008 planning permission for the resort, which involved bulldozing parts of the Foveran Links Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). However, the Trump Organization closed Memag in 2013, claiming it had “fulfilled its purpose”.
In its latest application, the company wants to replace Memag with annual environmental inspections for the next three years. It argues that the group was “an unnecessary and disproportionate development management tool”. Conservationists, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland, have criticised the move, calling the original environmental commitments “greenwash”.
Scottish government planning inspectors ruled in December that “robust” environmental monitoring was essential for any new building at the site. They said ecological assessments may need to be updated and strengthened. The inspectors also objected to plans for 850 private homes and 1,900 leisure units, saying they deviated too far from the 2008 master plan.
The Trump Organization is pushing ahead with plans for a second 18-hole golf course and an extension to its boutique hotel. Aberdeenshire Council is expected to accept the inspectors’ recommendations on 9 March, potentially forcing the company to stick to the original planning conditions, including paying for a primary school and affordable housing if it builds a timeshare complex.
