September 16, 2011
Scotland

Donald Trump vows global legal fight to halt wind farm

By Frank Urquhart, The Scotsman, scotsman.com 16 September 2011

Donald Trump is ready to take legal action in Scottish, European and American courts to block an “eyesore” offshore wind farm he claims threatens his £750 million golf resort plan in Aberdeenshire.

The Trump executive in charge of the Menie estate development confirmed it could be put on hold if the wind farm just two miles from the proposed golf links gets the go ahead.

“The golf component is finished,” said George Sorial, the Trump Organisation’s managing director of international development. “But obviously, if the Scottish Government were to allow massive 65-storey electrical power plants off our coastline, we would have to re-evaluate every other aspect of our project and make a decision whether or not it’s worth our while.

“It is fair to say – if this terrible proposal were approved – we would have no choice but to re-evaluate everything, all the other components. I think any developer would do the same.”

Mr Sorial said that Mr Trump’s decision to write a personal letter to First Minister Alex Salmond, calling for the offshore wind farm development to be blocked or moved, was only the beginning of the Trump Organisation’s fight.

The 11 turbine development, being spearheaded by Swedish electricity company Vattenfall, will stretch from Aberdeen to an area off Blackdog, an estimated one-and-a-half miles from the Menie links. The turbines will be up to 640ft high – twice the size of the Big Ben clock tower.

In the objection document, lodged with Marine Scotland, the Trump Organisation said: “Mr Trump has a legitimate expectation that no decision will now be taken to undermine the commercial viability of his project – simply because it is easier to move the wind farm.”

But Green party MSP Patrick Harvie said: “The future for the North-east lies in sustainable projects like offshore wind, not some vanity project for rich tourists.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/09/16/donald-trump-vows-global-legal-fight-to-halt-wind-farm/