I'm saddened by the SNP Government's approval of Donald Trump's golf course and housing estate plans for Aberdeenshire's coast. (see News on this website)

Maybe I was being naive but I had somehow got the feeling that through the present credit crunch/economic downturn that we might have learned some lessons about greed and materialism. And yet, no sooner than the first rich guy come along with a fistful of dollars the SNP Government dumps its green credentials and sacrifices a stretch of coastline which everyone thought was protected by various conservation designations. So much for the SNP; so much for conservation designations; so much for selling out to rich Americans. What "protected area" will be next to go?
It's a little like history repeating itself in Scotland - I'd have thought a nationalist government would have remembered Scotland's history:
"Bought and sold for English (American) gold,
Sic a parcel o' rogues in a nation."

Although now dated, you might find this article interesting:

Bunkered by Mr Big - John Burnside attacks the unacceptable face of golf culture

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2001/jul/28/highereducation.news1

Well I'm pleased that the Scottish Government has approved these plans, despite reservations about the loss of some of the sand doons. Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire is badly needing something to atract the tourists who mainly flock to the west coast. We only have a few castles and and some granite buildings for visitors who do not want to head up Deeside or to distilleries.

If planning permission is granted for golf courses near Stonehaven and Banchory Devenich (on outskirts of Aberdeen) the area should be able to attract lots of the golfing fraternity from home and abroad and bring badly needed income to the north-east. It should also create more jobs and flights in and out of Aberdeen Airport. In the long term this may benefit us all here in the North East and we wont have to travel to Glasgow and Edinburgh for suitable flights abroad.

Great news. Just hope I survive long enough to see all the benefits.

By the way I'm not a golfer, jst hoping for better things for the City of Aberdeen as oil production declines.

Come on now, you've got Robbie Shepherd - what more do you need :)

Better news down south - it seems like only one of the proposed eco towns is likely to progress any further, and I suspect even that one may stumble. But surely these were a red herring anyway, designed to put some green spin on government plans for ridiculous amounts of largely unsustainable new housing.
Three years ago I spent a windswept hour in the dunes and on the beach north of Aberdeen, before dashing back to the car in the face of stinging North Sea hail - I can't imagine anyone wanting to play golf there!

You never know, perhaps the Donald Trump dollars will have an influence on the weather gods, just as they did with the Scottish government... ;)

We Aberdonians just want the cash. Whether or not they can play a round of golf in the haar is immaterial.

In the haar those who objected to the plans wont be able to see those 500 houses.

Hopefully everyone will pay their council tax and if these houses are holiday homes we should charge them a wee bit more!!!

Maybe it's just me (I never quite understood the attraction of golf as a pastime), but are a couple of extra golf courses and a hotel really going to fire up Aberdeen's economy and protect it against the loss of oil? If oil becomes so expensive after it becomes absent from the North Sea, who is going to fly to Aberdeen to play golf?
If I was a golfer in Surrey, i think I'd stay there...
Is this really good, long-term planning?
And is the destruction of the sand dunes and hinterland a given? Is it too late for the Local Authority planners to make sure that even if there's a new golf course, that damage is minimal?
I think the King might have been promised a new suit....

If Trump really wants a gold course there is plenty ground around Aberdeen. Whether you agree with the original council decision or not, it was properly reached by a democratically elected group of councillors. Now it has been turned around by sheer financial clout, giving a very clear message that rules only count for poor people: the rich can trample over whatever they like. This is a shameful decision for Scotland, and the politicians who were a part of selling out should be black ashamed. No wonder the creation of the Cairngorm National Park has seen more building and development and new path creation than in the last 20 years. Give us money and we'll sell you our grannies.
Utterly shameful and I'm going to stop now before I get totally incoherent.

I suspect that Trumps Golf Course will not be for locals, or even the 'working class' in the UK. I think it will be tailored for the American market or those with loads of dosh. I also think the houses will be bought by the Americans so that they can stay close to the Golf Course. (I hope no one tells them about the weather until after they paid for their property).

They are to be championship Golf Courses, well Trumps, is, so money will be made from TV and advertising. Maybe not as much money to be made as from North Sea Oil but it should bring jobs to the North East of Scotland.

As far as I am aware the Airport runway is to be extended to cater for direct flights to and from America. It can just take Trumps plane at the moment.