Opponents of developer Donald Trump’s proposed £1 billion (US$1.45 billion) golf resort on the Aberdeenshire coast of Scotland claim they have thwarted his plans to forcibly purchase land in a mass protest backed by celebrities and conservationists.
There are now multiple owners of 0.4 hectares of land previously owned by Michael Forbes, the quarryman and salmon netsman who has become Trump’s most famous opponent.
The land is part of Forbes’ 9.3 hectare property that sits inside the proposed resort, close to one of two planned 18-hole golf courses and, in a play on words, has been nicknamed “The Bunker.”
PHOTO: REUTERS
Campaigners in the protest group “Tripping up Trump” on Wednesday unveiled an online appeal for sympathizers to register their names as joint owners, in a campaign likened to the mass purchase of land next to London’s Heathrow Airport to block a proposed third runway.
Although Trump has said Forbes’ home is not necessary for his resort, the billionaire property developer’s executives have said he could seek the compulsory purchase of Forbes’ land and three other private houses and properties inside or next to the site.
Trump, who flew to Aberdeen on Wednesday with his son Donald Trump Jr, already has outline planning permission for the properties. His latest master plan included all five parcels of private property in the resort.
Two property owners, a driving school instructor who lives next to Forbes and Aberdeenshire council, have indicated they want to sell to Trump — Forbes and David Milne, another prominent objector who owns an adjacent former coastguard station, are resisting the measure.
Opponents are convinced Trump will seek a compulsory purchase order and believe their mass ownership of part of the land will make it legally and politically difficult for Aberdeenshire council to agree to the order.
Forbes, made famous after Trump singled him out for abuse last year, said: “Tripping Up Trump now own a piece of my land in an effort to help protect my family and the other families worried by the threat of compulsory purchase. Trump lost the battle for public opinion long ago and he’s now lost any chance of bulldozing our homes.”
The group’s lawyer, Eileen Bready, said: “The Tripping up Trump campaign has now acquired land at Mill of Menie to defend the homes under threat of compulsory purchase. The Trump Organization will now have to deal with many more objectors than they anticipated.”
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