Walking at Balmedie

This is a very belated response to your e-mail to me last November or December following the decision of Aberdeenshire Council’s Infrastructure Services Committee to refuse Donald Trump’s planning application for housing, golf courses etc on the Menie Estate near Balmedie.

I received many hundreds of e-mails at that time (600+ on 30 November alone), and with everything else that was going on it was simply impossible to reply to the vast majority.  So, my apologies if I did not reply to your e-mail back in December, but a sincere thank you for your support.  All the councillors who voted to refuse the application really appreciated people who agreed with the decision taking the time to get in touch.

The recent public inquiry into the application confirmed that the one third of the Foveran Links Site of Special Scientific Interest that it is intended to convert into half of one of the proposed golf courses will be massively damaged – to the extent that, if Mr Trump gets his way, SNH are likely to consider removing the SSSI designation.  The basis of the scientific interest at Menie, that this is a highly dynamic, mobile dune system, will be completely compromised by stabilising the sand surface so that the golf course can be constructed.  Against this certainty of huge environmental damage, the claimed economic benefits are very uncertain.  Mr Trump himself accepted that the proposal was high risk.  But, most importantly, it was shown at the inquiry that the dunes do not need to be destroyed for a golf development to go ahead.  It is only Mr Trump’s refusal to compromise that is forcing people to choose between the dunes or a golf course – there is actually plenty of room on the Menie estate for both.

It was also accepted by all sides at the inquiry that the proposed housing, for sale on the open market, is completely against the policies in the agreed development plan.  No other developer would have any chance of getting planning permission to put 500 houses on a group of fields remote from any existing settlement or facilities.

I have attached to this e-mail a copy of a leaflet jointly produced by the RSPB and the Scottish Wildlife Trust.  This gives more information about why it is important that planning permission is not granted for the Menie application in its current form – or at least only some elements of the application are approved (most crucially, excluding the SSSI).

Please consider writing to Mr Swinney and other MSPs to say why it is important that the SSSI is protected from development, and why the planning system should be applied fairly and equally to ALL applicants.

Thank you again for your support last year.

Martin Ford

P.S.  Please also consider asking anyone else you know who is opposed to the application in its current form to write to Mr Swinney as well.