Donald Trump loses Scottish wind farm fight

US presidential candidate Donald Trump has lost a Supreme Court fight against an offshore wind farm project near his Scottish golf resort.

By The Newsroom Wednesday, 16th December 2015, 11:13 am

Trump didn't want the wind farm to spoil the view from his luxury golf course. Picture: Jane Barlow

Scottish Government ministers approved proposals for an 11-turbine scheme off the Aberdeenshire coast in 2013.

Mr Trump, president of the Trump Organisation, says the wind farm will spoil the view from his luxury golf links at the Menie Estate.

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He argued that ministers were wrong to give the project the green light.

The Supreme Court analysed the case at a hearing in London in October after the businessman had twice lost fights in Scottish courts.

A panel of Supreme Court justices has now ruled against Mr Trump.

Mr Trump has said he would pull the plug on plans to further develop the resort near Balmedie if the wind farm project went ahead.

The European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) project is a joint venture by Vattenfall Wind Power and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group, which says the turbines would yield enough electricity to power 68,000 UK households over a year.

A spokesman for the Trump Organisation said: “This is an extremely unfortunate verdict for the residents of Aberdeen and anyone who cares about Scotland’s economic future. The (wind farm development) will completely destroy the bucolic Aberdeen Bay and cast a terrible shadow upon the future of tourism for the area.

“History will judge those involved unfavourably and the outcome demonstrates the foolish, small-minded and parochial mentality which dominates the current Scottish Government’s dangerous experiment with wind energy.”

He added: “We will evaluate the court’s decision and continue to fight this proposal on every possible front.”

Suzanne Kelly, whose petition calling for Mr Trump to be barred from the UK swelled to more than half a million signatures, applauded the Supreme Court ruling.

The 54-year-old, from Aberdeen, said: “I welcome the decision on Donald Trump’s wind farm challenge, and seeing his action quashed is wonderful.

“The irony of someone who built a wall of dirt near their neighbour’s home to block its views to the sea seeking sympathy for having to view offshore wind farms is a sweet irony.”

She added that Mr Trump should take responsibility for his controversial comments suggesting Muslims should be barred from entering the US and that parts of London were so “radicalised” that police feared for their lives.

“Trump famously came to Holyrood and proclaimed ‘I am the evidence’. I agree with him on this point - he is the evidence to me that hate speech tragically can turn into hateful actions,” she said.