Allister Hayman,
Regeneration & Renewal,
7 March 2008
US tycoon Donald Trump could walk away from his proposed multi-million pound golf resort if the public inquiry into the plan is not resolved by the end of the year, his representative told Regeneration and Renewal last week.
Trump International Golf Links Scotland project director Neil Hobday said Trump was "very disappointed" with the Scottish Government's decision to launch a public inquiry into the proposed golf resort in Aberdeenshire - but expected the issue to be resolved this year.
"If it drags on beyond that there will become a point where a good deal turns into a bad deal and Trump will walk away," he said. "I think this whole thing will have other developers thinking twice about investing in Scotland."
Hobday also said that Confederation of British Industry Scotland director Iain McMillan, who last week warned that Scotland risked missing national economic growth targets because of delays in the planning system, was "spot on".
Hobday's warning came after finance secretary John Swinney last week announced a public inquiry into the plan. He said that this would ensure the "efficient, transparent and inclusive" consideration of "this major and controversial application".
The scheme was narrowly rejected by Aberdeenshire Council last November on environmental grounds and subsequently called in by ministers because it "raised issues of national importance".
The call-in was then subject to an inquiry by Scotland's Local Government and Communities Committee following allegations of impropriety in the call-in process. The committee is expected to report on its findings this month.
Martin Ford, the councillor whose casting vote saw the council reject Trump's plans, said ministers had made "the right and proper decision". He said: "The council refused it for very proper reasons but we didn't want or expect that to be the end of the application - we wanted the applicant to reapply, or lodge an appeal."
Ford said that the decision had restored a sense of "normalcy" to the process. "Had the applicant lodged an appeal, there would have been a public inquiry," he said. "So now it's as it would've have been had the normal process been followed."
Hobday said Trump did not regret not appealing the council's decision, despite the subsequent three-month delay. "What is regrettable is that the (local government and communities) committee has effectively paralysed this whole process," he said.
