The fisherman, the golf course, and Donald 'The Fart' Trump

[ina]

Money, money, money...

[QuakerBear]

And now the bad news:

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/scotland ... 63,00.html

[Smooth Hound]

And now the bad news:

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/scotland ... 63,00.html

i cant get to see this forsome reason its blocked, could someone copy and paste the report for me please.

[ina]

Salmond steps in to save Trump's billion-dollar Scottish golf course


Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent
Wednesday December 5, 2007
The Guardian

Donald Trump's dream of building the "world's best golf course" in Scotland was resurrected yesterday after the Scottish first minister, Alex Salmond, intervened to save the £1bn project.

The billionaire property developer has been fighting to save his proposal to build two championship golf courses on the coast north of Aberdeen after it was unexpectedly rejected last week by local councillors - to the dismay and fury of the scheme's supporters.

Trump had warned he might take his project to Northern Ireland and had given Aberdeenshire 30 days to find a way to overturn its own planning committee's decision. But in a surprise move, the Scottish executive announced last night it would take charge of the application, under rarely used powers in the 1997 Town and Country Planning Act, on the grounds it "raises issues of importance that require consideration at a national level".

Article continues
The council had suggested the only way it could reconsider the proposal, which Trump claims would create 1,250 jobs and add £47m a year to the economy, was if he resubmitted his planning application. Neil Hobday, the resort's project director, said Trump was "impressed" and very pleased at the Scottish executive's decision. "We feel it couldn't be in better hands," he said. "We felt something like this was required. We'd been looking at all the other options - an appeal, special hearings and other stuff. I think ministers have made a brave decision, because I think the government has listened to the people."

Salmond is MP for the Balmedie area where Trump plans to build the resort and had dinner with the property magnate in New York last month. He is known to have been furious at the local council decision. Although it was taken on the casting vote of the Liberal Democrat chair of the committee, two councillors from his own SNP also voted against the resort.

Scottish executive officials said last night the review would be led by John Swinney, the cabinet secretary for finance who is responsible for planning and a close ally of Salmond's.

The move leaves the Scottish executive open to legal challenge from the course's opponents, who insist that Trump's plans to build nearly 1,000 holiday flats and 500 homes breach planning guidelines.

[ina]

I'm rather disappointed at this article - if even the Guardian starts reporting in this biased way, where does that leave all those people who are against it?

[Smooth Hound]

i dont think its biased, i think they are just reporting the facts, i really dont think thats what this 1997 legislation was about, i think it was incase of a national emergency, i hardly think this is of national emrgency,

[Chickenlady]

Heard this on the news earlier. It is very disappointing but not at all surprising. The big eejits with the money step on the little people, as usual.

[9ball]

They covered this on Hawksbee and Jacobs on Talksport yesterday and they spoke to the editor of one of the Aberdeen rags on the phone, apparently there have been a lot more letters for it (about 15000 people) than against. *shrugs*. The petitions on the number10 website suggest the same - with 12373 in support and 3161 against.

[Millymollymandy]

They were even talking about it on Radio 2 yesterday.

[ina]

i dont think its biased, i think they are just reporting the facts,

The bit I think is biased is where Neil Hobday is quoted as saying he thinks the Government listened to the people, without it being mentioned that according to the polls more than half the people are actually against it.

[Smooth Hound]

the reason it looks like more people are for than against him, is completely due to the evening express, which has a habit of being extremely biased, to the extent of not being legally a news paper in my opinion, but more a campaign publication, it has the habit of holding its own campaigns and giving the impression that everyone agrees with them by only publishing letters from pro people in this case and throwing the the anti letters in the bin. over the last yr they were actually told by the race relations and authoritiesthat if they didnt drop certain race issues that were a problem in aberdeen, or show it in a fair way , that acction would be taken against them. i believe its owned by the mail group

[Smooth Hound]

yes i see what you mean about niel hobday, but he is the resort manager , so not surprising, . this crap about so many people for it is just not true, between them and the evening express and another party alsothey have created this image, which is a false one, this is what happens with such big business, they are all in each others pockets at the moment, and we are being taken for mugs

[Smooth Hound]

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotlan ... 1902482007



http://www.chicagotribune.com/new...719 ... &cset=true

[ina]

Just worked my way through the Scotsman article - what a load of rubbish comments! And so many from abroad - aye right, they know exactly what's going on here and what we need... No time for the second article now.

[Smooth Hound]

There is something more about all this that makes me a little confused.

Before Alex was first minister ,he made it quite clear that he was for the golf course, and has never denied it, it was only the fact that he is now first minister that he cant show his opinion, which he has said is true. Also through the sacking of martin ford we can see that the infastructure is ok for the area, or surely he wouldnt have been sacked. 7 members of the infastructure voted against the course though, not just martin, and on top of that 2 were members of snp, they voted no to infastructure also, and knowing full well that alex their first minister and mp for the balmedie area, was and is in support of the course. So how come martin was sacked. and i would like to know whether the 2 snp councillors then went on to vote against martin. if they did then there is more to this than meets the eye. the p a j unfortunately failed to complete their report by telling us which party each of the members that voted martin out or voted against trumps course on the basis of infastructure, represent or belong to.


i have since writing this checked out my hunch and i am right.

cllr G Clark, councillor for stonehaven, and cllr i taite for fraserburgh, are both snp and both voted against the trump ville on the basis of the infastructure, and yes you guessed both also voted to sack martin ford for voting against the trumpville on the basis of the infastructure. So make of it what you will , but i know what i make of it, there is most definately more to this than meets the eye