January 27, 2012
Scotland

Trump wants windfarm public inquiry

news.uk.msn.com 26 January 2012

US business tycoon Donald Trump has called for the Scottish Government to hold a public inquiry into the application for an offshore windfarm near the site of his £750 million luxury golf course.

Work on the development in Menie, Aberdeenshire, has been put on hold until a decision is made on an offshore wind farm proposal near the site.

The postponement was announced last week and the Trump Organisation said any future work, including the building of a hotel, would now depend on the decision made by the Scottish Government regarding the application for the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC).

Representatives from the organisation attended a meeting of Aberdeenshire Council’s infrastructure services committee to raise concerns about the location of the turbines. Other stakeholders in the golf, leisure and tourism industries in the area also attended as they stand together against the siting of the windfarm proposal.

A statement from the Trump Organisation said: “To put it simply and on an even larger scale, it will totally destroy tourism in Scotland and, even more importantly, the great beauty of the Scottish coastline. There is a need for the Scottish Government to establish a national policy regulating the acceptable distance of such turbines from the shoreline.

“We, therefore, urge Scottish ministers to convene a public inquiry on this application and all other wind turbine proposals that threaten Scotland’s tourism industry and other historic sites.”

Mr Trump has previously written to First Minister Alex Salmond twice objecting to the offshore proposal. He said: “If Scotland is going to be independent, it needs to protect its greatest national treasure, the coastline. Frankly, I don’t understand how they are even considering it.”

A planning application for the 11-turbine wind farm off Aberdeen Bay was submitted to Marine Scotland last summer. The EOWDC proposal is a £150 million joint venture by utility company Vattenfall, engineering firm Technip and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group.

A spokesman for EOWDC said they were pleased with the meeting and the “broadly positive” views from councillors who represent the areas close to the development.

He said: “We believe the proposal has wide public and business support, and we have made a strong case for the economic and environmental benefits of this project. We look forward to hearing a decision on our planning application from Marine Scotland later this year.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/01/27/trump-wants-windfarm-public-inquiry/