ABERDEENSHIRE COUNCIL GIVES
TRUMP GREEN LIGHT AND
PASSES VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE
IN MARTIN FORD



FROM THE Guardian Unlimited WEBSITE:
The Scottish council which had previously thrown out the application for Donald Trump's controversial £2bn golf complex in Scotland has given it the green light after the Scottish Executive stepped in.
However, despite the council's U-turn, the final decision will still ultimately lie with the Scottish Cabinet Secretary, John Swinney, after the planning application was "called in", following an outcry over the initial rejection.
Aberdeenshire councillors gave the US property developer's proposals for a 566-hectare site in Balmedie, between Aberdeen and Ellon, their "full support" at a special meeting and sacked the chair of the council's infrastructure services committee who had used his casting vote to block the plans.
A motion of no confidence in Cllr Martin Ford was passed by 26 votes to 10, with 29 councillors abstaining, the council said in a statement.
The planning application from Trump International Golf Links Scotland includes two championship golf courses, a five-star hotel, a golf academy, almost 1,000 holiday homes and 500 private houses.
The Scottish Government said last week it was intervening because the project was too important to be dealt with by a local council.
The director of the project, Neil Hobday, pictured above, said he felt vindicated by the council's decision.
"For us, it is a validation or affirmation and it did not surprise us as we have support of the people of this region and I think the politicians who are representing them listened," he said.
Trump threatened last week to move the course to Northern Ireland if necessary, even though he had originally said the development would be "in honour of my mother" who grew up in Stornoway.
Local business leaders have said the project would be a huge investment for the area, but environmentalists raised concerns over its potential impact on sand dunes.