Eviction bid threatens Trump resort

PLANS BY the US billionaire tycoon Donald Trump for a highly controversial hotel and golf resort on Scotland's north-east coast look likely to be blocked by the local council.

An investigation by the Sunday Herald has discovered that a majority of Aberdeenshire's councillors are currently opposed to moves to force four families from their homes on the Menie estate near Balmedie in order to make way for the development.

Trump has said that without acquiring these properties his £1 billion "world-class" leisure complex, for which he already has planning permission, will not be viable.

The Trump organisation has been trying to persuade the four families to sell their homes for the last four years, so far without success. Two of them have repeatedly said that they are determined not to move.

So Trump has asked Aberdeenshire Council to slap compulsory purchase orders on the properties to evict the families. This has provoked widespread anger, and is expected to be discussed by the full council on October 1.

But the Sunday Herald has been told that most of the 68 councillors are deeply unhappy about compulsory purchase, including the controlling LibDem/Conservative coalition and independent councillors. At the moment, there is a clear majority against the move.

Full Story: The Sunday Herald
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