Why Donald Trump must not be trusted with any more developments in Scotland - Andy Wightman

The dunes at Foveran Links had been a “high-quality example” of a geological system characteristic of north-east Scotland, according to NatureScot. This was because of its unusual shifting sands and diverse plant life.

But last week the agency said the impact of the golf course meant they no longer “merit being retained as part of the site of special scientific interest”.

This significant environmental damage was predicted, and goes alongside other broken promises by Trump on jobs and housing commitments from his developments.

In the Scottish Parliament, Trump claimed “I am the evidence.” He promised to create up to 6,000 jobs by building a five-star hotel with 450 rooms, shops, a sports complex, timeshare flats, two golf courses and housing estates.

Instead, he created one 18-hole golf course and boutique hotel with 16 rooms, with a catastrophic impact on the area’s biodiversity.

In 2011, I produced an investigative report which charted the behaviour of the Trump organisation over the previous five years and found it wholly untrustworthy.

I concluded: “Perhaps this vanity project will indeed end in tears on a rock of hubris and recrimination.”

Of course, this was written before Trump was elected as president, and his story of hubris and recrimination clearly still has some chapters unwritten, but when it comes to his property portfolio in Scotland we continue to count the cost of unsustainable development.

In 2011 Trump himself was personally, actively involved in pushing through this development, brushing aside warnings and making legal threats against the community. He even threatened me with legal action at one point. The Trump Organisation tried to obtain consent for compulsory purchase orders, and Trump himself ordered the construction of earthworks to “get rid” of one of the houses.

With this context it was misguided for the Scottish Government to have granted planning approval.

The environmental costs of the golf course were said to be offset by the economic benefits that were promised but which never materialised.

Sadly, a second golf course has now been approved. It is a green light to the Trump organisation to do more environmental damage and sends a clear message that promises on the economic impact for communities are not worth the paper they are written on.

This saga is one of the most profoundly shocking examples of the power of money and influence over our precious natural environment. This is a project that should never have been allowed to take place against the backdrop of a planning system that was robust at a local level but undermined by national power play and the desire to flatter the monster ego that is Donald Trump.

Money and power should not have such a grip on our levels of government. And clearly Trump International should not be trusted with any more developments.​​​​​​

Andy Wightman is a Green MSP for Lothian region