Council planners back expansion of Donald Trump Scottish golf resort

Planning officials have recommended that Trump Organisation’s contentious plans to expand its inaugural Scottish golf resort should be allowed, despite admitting that they fall foul of the local authority’s own policies and represent a “significant departure” from the original proposals.In a decision that is sure to spark controversy, one of Aberdeenshire Council’s most senior executives has said that although the so-called Trump Estate development flouts various safeguards designed to protect rural areas and prime agricultural land, its potential economic benefits have “considerable merit.”US president Donald Trump pictured with his sons, Eric, and Donald Jr, who run the Trump Organisation. Picture: PAStephen Archer, director of infrastructure services at the council, conceded that while the Trump Organisation’s plans differed significantly from an outline planning permission granted 11 years ago, the local authority “considers flexibility to be key to ensuring the deliverability of the full resort development over time.”But Martin Ford, the Green party councillor who used his casting vote to temporarily block the plans for the Trump resort in 2008, said if the new plans are approved, it would represent a “major failure of the planning system.”He warned that there was “no reason to believe” the Trump Organisation’s promise of investment was inaccurate and said council would look “ridiculous” by falling for “Trump’s sales pitch” a second time around.”In a 44 page document, he has recommended that councillors who sit Aberdeenshire’s Formartine Area Committee greenlight the development at their meeting on 26 March.Even if the committee approves, the Trump Organisation’s plans, it will still have to be ratified by the full council, but Mr Archer’s analysis represents a major boon for the project, which has been greeted with widespread hostility.The local authority has received just three letters of support for the Trump Organisation’s plans. A record number of 21,640 people have made their objections known.The Trump Organisation submitted its planning application last July, promising to spend £150m on the expansion to its lossmaking Trump International Golf Links resort.It proposes building up to 500 homes, as well as 50 “hotel cottages” alongside a sports centre, town hall, and retail and commercial space.The development is seen as integral to the long-term success of the resort, which has yet to turn a profit and is dependent on loans totalling more than £41.9m