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We were talking about Trump on Saturday at Silloth on Solway, one of England's finest and without doubt best value championship courses. He is already boasting he will have a Ryder Cup, British Open etc yada yada yada. He forgets Royal Aberdeen is close by and the R&A are not swayed by cash (they have plenty thank you). Plus fancy a game up there in February? Wonder why they built Peterhead Jail......cold, miserable etc. Deluded or what Mr Trump.

David Johnson wrote:


> Mind you, it must be the first world class golf course
> (according to Trump) which only has a small, temporary
> clubhouse.
>
> The second golf course and everything else, ugly, large
> clubhouse, hotels, holiday homes etc etc has been shelved until
> previous best mate Alex Salmond gives in and stops an offshore
> wind farm project that Trump doesn't like.
>
> I suspect that there could well be a bit of, "we realise this
> project is not economically viable so let's blame it on....."

I agree, Trump is full of shit. Everything he does is always "the best in the world." Mostly it is tawdry overpriced rubbish. Did you ever see the interior of his apartment in The Apprentice? He's like trailer trash with money, gold bling everywhere and not an ounce of taste. It is obvious that the economic case for his golf course is full of holes (so to speak), and he's using the offshore windfarm as his excuse to pull out. Alec Salmond will be left looking like the fool he is, easily swayed by the lure of a few Yankee dollars flashed at him by one of the world's greatest bullshit artists. I wonder if Wee Eck has ever heard of the Darien scheme, and how Scotland need to be bailed out by England in the first place?

Well given there are already about 5 golf courses in Scotland that regularly run the Open, I would hope there wouldn't be any place for a jumped up Blingmeister like Trump with all his accompanying baggage and bad publicity.

I have few contacts at a very high level in the game and there are 2 chances of The Open going to Aberdeen, none and fuck all. Too far North for English fans like Moi and no space to fit in the tented village, TV etc.
He opened a similar course overlooking New York harbour a while back and the Pro's hated it. He has another in California which cost stupid money and guess what? Nobody raved about it....

It is clear something like this will not be given the green-light without a lot of thought and discussion, it even went to the head honcho Salmond himself for permission to be given. You are right the area is a site of special scientific interest but they can't leave the country untouched forever, things have to evolve and change through development and alteration in places from time to time. Think how many nearby areas would now be categorised as sites of special scientific interest if they well still green and hadn't been massacred by the building of cities, towns, docks and everything else.

You say: "If this can happen to a SSI it means that Scotland has virtually no land which is protectable from development." I think you are concerned unnecessarily. A lot of Scotland consists of massive estates that are protected and Scotland has some of the most empty undeveloped regions you will find in western Europe - unlike the other end of this island (the south-east of England) that is very densely populated and the green bits are being encroached upon all the time. This golf course will be an amazing place to visit just for a walk around, it was originally a green spot and will continue to be - with the exception of the golf course's buildings, but they will be a tiny proportion of the development.

"It is clear something like this will not be given the green-light without a lot of thought and discussion, it even went to the head honcho Salmond himself for permission to be given."

It only went to Salmond because the local council didnt give what was deemed to be the right answer - grant planning permission.

"You are right the area is a site of special scientific interest but they can't leave the country untouched forever"

Have you ever been to Glasgow, Max?

You still havent got it. The entirety of Scoltand is not SSI's. They only reserve that title for areas deemed to have the most natural, rare habitat. There could have been other sites chosen which would have not impacted on rare, special habitats.

"A lot of Scotland consists of massive estates that are protected "

Yeah for shooting. And so what?

"it was originally a green spot and will continue to be"

Max, google the word, habitat and read the results i.e. what makes up natural habitat such as dunes.

Then google the words, golf course and read the results.

Note the difference between the two. A golf course is not deemed a Site of Special Scientific Interest. There are reasons for this.

Yes, a golf course is a green spot but so is the tee shirt my auntie gave me. They are not the same.

I hear what you say, maybe they should have put it somwhere else. Have you any suggestions as to where? I don't know Scotland but I've visited a few times. The Scots invented golf so it would seem inevitable, and right, that Scotland would one day end up with the world's largest and most incredible golf course. Putting it by the sea is a nice thing to do.

As the years go on it is inveitable some places that have special things about them are going to be altered in the name of progress. Future generations won't know, or care very much, that some local dune systems were tampered with or done away with, but they will love this huge area of greenery, trees, shallow hills, lakes and wildlife that will exist there. As I said earlier, it's not as if Trump is proposing to build a 20,000 capacity concrete car park.

With all due respect Max, you can't compare a golf course to an area of NATURAL beauty that offers a NATURAL habitat to important species of wildlife cruicial to local ecosystems.

And as for future generations "not knowing of caring" about the sand dunes, there are future generations of Brazilians who will neither know nor care about the rain extensive forests that once existed there that have now been turned into extensive areas of "rolling farmland with trees and nice fields full of crops" (I'm ignoring the clearance that goes on for mining etc.). So does that make the rape of the rain forest OK in your book?

Yes the golf course ios on a much smaller scale, but the principle is the same and the point is no less valid.

- Eric