Safeguard Scotland from Donald Trump

Letter to Press Editors

Dear Sir

We are not opposed in principle to Donald Trump building golf courses on the Menie estate north of Aberdeen. But if his current planning application is approved it will undermine the integrity of the planning system in Scotland.

It will be a green light to any developer, with a large cheque book to bulldoze their way through the planning process, while treating environmental concerns with contempt. Repeated efforts by Aberdeenshire planners, Scottish Natural Heritage and many others to persuade Mr Trump to move his golf course back a short distance from the sensitive landscape and wildlife coastal zone of Aberdeenshire have come to nothing. Our planning system must not be held to ransom by any developer who refuses to compromise.

John Muir, a Scot, went to America and became the founding father of the worldwide national park movement. At its core is the principle that areas designated for their natural heritage value should be protected from adverse developments. It would be ironic indeed if Donald Trump, whose mother was a Scot, demonstrated to the world that Scotland is the country which destroyed the legacy of John Muir. Please write to your MSP and ask them to take all necessary action to safeguard Scotland from Donald Trump.

Yours faithfully
Dennis Canavan
President
Ramblers’ Association Scotland