Council accused over Trump school sponsorship

Aberdeenshire Council has been accused of breaking its own rules on commercial sponsorship by allowing Donald Trump to fund sport and nature activities at a local primary school.

The US property tycoon has helped pay for a football strip bearing his name and a climbing wall for Balmedie school. The school is near where he plans to build his controversial £1 billion golf, hotel and housing resort.

Mr Trump has also involved children from the school in planting grass on the sand dunes where the proposed golf course is sited. This is despite claims from environmentalists that the grass will ruin the dunes.

“I’m very angry that well-intentioned young people and teachers have been misused for a publicity stunt for the Trump Organisation,” said the Green MSP, Robin Harper.

“If Aberdeenshire Council didn’t realise what they were doing they should be ashamed of themselves, but they have been engaged in this controversy long enough to know that this should not have been done.”

The council’s policy on commercial sponsorship says that deals will only be entered into “if the benefits to consumers and/or the public outweigh the costs”. The association between the council and the sponsoring company must be “responsible” and agreements must be in writing.

But according to the leading anti-Trump councillor, Martin Ford, these criteria had not been met. “The issue here is whether the council is exercising appropriate control in accordance with its own policies – or whether, once again, the rules are simply not being applied to this particular property developer.”

Ford accused the Trump Organisation of seeking to get good local publicity before it tried to force people from their homes. A request for Aberdeenshire Council to consider using compulsory purchase powers to evict four families in the way of the development remains “on the table”.

Last week, the Trump Organisation published its detailed plans for what it described as “the world’s greatest golf course”. The artist impressions of the development made it look like the homes had disappeared.

Balmedie primary school was given £1,000 by the Trump Organisation towards new strips for its football team in November. The school’s team of children aged 10-12 plays in the Aberdeen schools league second division wearing blue shirts saying “Trump International Scotland”.

Last month, children from the school also took part in a publicity event set up by the Trump Organisation to plant marram grass at the Menie estate where the golf course is planned. This was despite evidence that such planting could damage the site’s unique mobile sand dunes.

Full Story: Caledonian Mercury