ABERDEENSHIRE councillors approved plans today to expand US President Donald Trump’s north-east estate with a controversial second golf course and major housing development, dubbed Trump Estate.

Plans for the multi-million pound project were heavily criticised, with 2,918 objections submitted to the local authority, including a petition with almost 19,000 signatories.

However, councillors voted to approve the development, which includes shops, gym facilities and 550 luxury homes.

The decision comes after an 18-hole golf course – named the MacLeod course after the president’s mother who was born in Scotland before emigrating to New York – was given the green light at a council vote on Tuesday, despite concerns about its implications for wildlife and the landscape.

Opposing the plans, councillor Isobel Davidson said: “The environmental impact of the application is overwhelming.”

The estate is located on a regulated coastal area and planning documents show disruption to natural waterways and nature spots as a result of the development.

The approval of the course was subject to 15 conditions, including reassurances on the protection of biodiversity in the Menie estate.

Approval of the Trump Estate hinged on material planning arguments, but Green councillor Martin Ford, a vocal critic of Trump, said he would not take part in the vote due to his publicly held views.

The Aberdeenshire area had already suffered, he said, from its connection to Trump and his “violence, racism and misogyny.”

The plans were also scrutinised for their considerable departure from the original proposal, which included a five-star hotel and promises to spend £1 billion and create thousands of jobs.

Councillors voted 38-24 in favour of the development.

Speaking after the decision, Trump representative Sarah Malone said that “common sense had prevailed” and that the debate had shown “[the] development was always very important to the diversification of the north-east economy.”

But locals accused the Trump Organisation of putting profit before people and the environment.

Protester Iain Pinter told the Star: “This is blatant profiteering from Donald Trump, who doesn’t care about the nature and community he will destroy as long as it puts more money in his already overflowing pocket.”