The winds of change have blown across the “Great Dunes of
Scotland”. This morning, Donald Trump and Alex Salmond, two of the most
substantial egos in the Northern Hemisphere, are at war with each other over
the fate of an as-yet-unfinished Aberdeenshire golf resort.
At issue is an array of 11 giant off shore turbines that, subject
to planning approval, soon could overlook Mr Trump’s golf resort in Aberdeenshire,
to the businessman’s horror.
Last night, one of the protagonists, high in Trump Tower, shouted
insults from across an ocean. The world is “laughing at you” bellowed the
billionaire. The other, the politician, stuck to his
conviction that wind energy would remain forever at the core of the
Scottish Government’s energy policy, golf course or not.
Hostilities opened on Wednesday, when, with a characteristic note of
self-satisfaction, Mr Salmond told a conference that Mr Trump would “get
on board” as soon as Scotland was established as a world leader in
renewable energy.
That intervention brought an almost apocalyptic response
from Mr Trump’s New York headquarters, in a letter addressed to “Dear
First Minister Salmond”.
Mr Trump wrote: “You seem hell bent on destroying Scotland’s
coastline and therefore, Scotland itself - but I will never be on board’, as
you have stated I would be, with this insanity.
“As a matter of fact, I have just authorised my staff to allocate a substantial
amount of money to launch an international campaign to fight your plan to
surround Scotland’s coast with many thousands of wind turbines — it will
be like looking through the bars of a prison and the Scottish citizens will be
the prisoners.”
Last night, in an interview with The Times, Mr Trump made clear
that his anger had deep roots, founded on what he regarded as a breach of faith
by Scottish ministers. While his first golf course would open in
June, he insisted the remainder of the resort — including a luxury hotel and
hundreds of houses — would be halted if the wind farm went ahead.
“Hey, would you build a hotel that looks directly into a turbine?” said
Mr Trump. “The turbines are right outside the windows practically. I’ve
made myself clear. Those turbines will destroy Scotland and destroy the tourism
industry. There won’t be any reason to build a hotel.”
Mr Trump insisted his argument was not about personalities — “just the
opposite, I like Alex Salmond” — but was based on a point of principle.
Seven years ago, when he was considering options in Scotland and Northern
Ireland for a £1 billion golf resort he was given assurances by the
then Scottish Executive that there would be no offshore wind farm near his
Menie estate, the businessman said.
“The previous government — I assume it is one government and not
just a series of people — said ‘We want you to build this’,”
recalled Mr Trump. “I’ve spent £100 million in Scotland and I don’t even
have a mortgage on it — it’s not a lot of money for me. II was going to spend
£1 billion over the whole job, but not any more.
Mr Trump added that Jack McConnell, the former First
Minister, had promised the wind turbines would not be built. He recalled:
“I said: ‘Do I have your word?’ They said: ‘You have our word. We are not going
to build the windmills.’ I didn’t get it down in writing. I didn’t think I
needed to.”
Ironically, it was the first SNP administration who finally granted Mr
Trump approval for his resort in 2008, even though it is being built on
a Site of Special Scientific Interest. At the time Mr Salmond endorsed
the development and said it was “entirely right and proper” that his government
should support a scheme that would provide 6,000 jobs.
Now the same ministers have to decide whether the wind farm goes
ahead. Supporters of renewable energy say it could create 130,000 jobs in
Scotland, and Aberdeen is seen as its natural home.
Last night, a Scottish Government official stressed its enthusiasm for
off shore wind, which could “enable us to generate enough electricity to
power Scotland seven times over” by 2050.
He added: “Claims made by Mr Trump refer to the position some six years
ago, when he was submitting his Menie planning application – before the
current administration took office – and therefore we have no record or
knowledge of what was said then.”
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