The Trump Has Landed

 Aberdeenshire, Featured, Opinion  5 Responses »
Jun 072013
 

The press had been invited to a press conference by Trump Golf Scotland. They will have heard what he has to say about his golf course, the proposed windfarm, plans for his second golf course, the popularity of his golf course, how much money he is pulling in ‘for Scotland’…. and just how wonderful he thinks he is. Sue Edwards writes.

Rubbish Heap
Trump says he has the greatest golf course in the world.  No, he has a golf course on what are some of the greatest sand dunes in the world.

He has torn the heart out of a rare, dynamic dune system so important that part of it had the designation ‘Site of Special Scientific Interest’, the rest designated a SINS – a Site of Interest to Natural Science.

What was once a wild and untamed area is now constricted by the tarmac roads, the vast turfed and seeded greens and fairways, fertilised to a bright vivid green in comparison with the gentle soft green of the original marram grass. 

Perhaps it is a good golf course, but it is definitely in the wrong place.  Nature is fighting back – strong winter winds from the beach blow sand over the whole area as they have for centuries.  Trump will find he has a real fight on his hands!

What you won’t hear from Trump is the lengths he has gone to make life difficult for some of the residents.

From the start he tried to purchase some of the homes using subterfuge – first by sending a minion with a false name to say how much he would love to live in their home and offering a paltry sum, then he himself came clean, pretended to be a friend and made insulting offers.  Things turned sinister when he tried to persuade Aberdeenshire Council to obtain these homes for him by compulsory purchase.

Eventually all his attempts failed, but then he turned nasty.

Sand and earth bunds were built in front of homes so that they couldn’t be seen from his precious golf course. Trees were planted to further screen their properties.  Security vehicles were set to watch homes at all times of the day and night. The residents and their friends and family were stopped and questioned by Trump security – and worse.

As a neighbour Trump should be handed an ASBO. He submits planning applications, gets planning consent, then builds just whatever he wants.

the owners now look onto the back of a weed-laden sand and earth bank, imprisoned by Trump’s arrogance

The car park, for example, bears absolutely no resemblance to the planning consent he was given by the council.  He has submitted at least six retrospective planning applications for work he has carried out but has no consent for, and there are further examples of development carried out without planning consent even being sought.

If you want to see examples of this, go behind the big wooden gate at the end of the clubhouse car park. Squeeze round the gate (as residents with long-standing access rights now have to do) and see how Leyton Cottage has just been blanked off.

From having glorious long views across the dunes and farmland as far as the eye can see for decades, the owners now look onto the back of a weed-laden sand and earth bank, imprisoned by Trump’s arrogance.

Sand blows off the bund into their house, water is channeled by the bank down their track to settle around their low-lying property, and lights shine into their property from the car park lights built far too close to their home. Trump staff strim the grass on the golf course side of the bund close to Leyton Cottage, but they do this on Sundays causing a noise nuisance.

The bund was never on any planning application but he went ahead and built it and now the council has caved in and will allow it to stay. Just think for a moment how you would like it if this had happened to you.

Trump once stated that he was a great environmentalist. How would he explain the rubbish heaps he has lying hidden about the estate?

What They Do now With Waste Plastic
Piles of rubbish are burnt regularly, and heaps of grass cuttings have plastic chemical containers buried in them. Attempts have been made to cover the evidence with sand.

Fertilisers appear to have been spread around water courses causing wild plants and weeds to spring up and thrive further downstream.

The water then carries on out to sea possibly having an effect plants and animals in the marine environment.

The local newspapers – the Press and Journal and the Evening Express – won’t say a word against Trump and his development. Could the fact that the P&J editor is married to Trump’s office manager here at Menie have some bearing on this?  

Nevertheless, many folk locally have the measure of Trump and know about the way he deals with things. Yet, so many are still blinded by his ‘celebrity’ and accept just what he says as gospel truth.

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A Menie Mini Break With John Aberdein

 Aberdeenshire, Featured, Opinion  3 Responses »
May 132013
 

One_Man_And_His_Hose
By Suzanne Kelly.

North-east novelist John Aberdein, author of Amande’s Bed and Strip the Willow, was in town for a few days, and found time to take a little tour of the Menie Estate with us.  Here are some of his photographs and reactions.

We arrived at the Menie Estate at half twelve on a lovely, warm Spring Sunday.  Walking towards the Munro property, I knew what to expect.  But when you see the bund separating the Munros from the views and from the sun for the first time, it is unsettling.

The bund increases in height, but it is not just the severe, bulldozed ridge of sand that takes the breath away, it is what is planted on top.

Evergreen trees, conifers, are already brown.

“Is that supposed to be some kind of irrigation system?” John asks incredulously.

A pathetic yellow hose lies unattended, snaked up to a dying tree.

Brown_Evergreens
John told us that he’d planted hundreds of  trees as a supporter of ‘Trees for Life’, the Findhorn-based organisation aiming to restore the Caledonian Pine Forest.

Here was a complete contrast. Conifers shovelled into a ridge of sand to be a cosmetic screen for a few months, then hauled out and replaced once they had withered, browned and died.

We all talked about this waste and misuse of living things as symptomatic of a deeper sickness.

We stopped to talk to Susan Munro’s partner, son and friend at their place. Aberdeenshire Planning seem very keen to attempt the impossible and sweep this giant mound of sand under the carpet.

It is far higher than ever agreed when permission was granted. It blocks light and the previous spectacular views.  And it delivers a continuous flow of windblown sand, making Susan’s attempts at gardening difficult if not impossible.

Whether the planners are allowed to call this ghastly thing ‘landscaping’ and whether it will be allowed to slip through as the latest of many retrospective planning applications Trump has lodged remains to be seen.  So far, his batting average for getting what he wants is perfect.

We stop in at Hermit’s Point. “Love that flag”, John says of the black and white ‘Tripping up Trump’ standard flying over the property.  Not for the first time, I impose on Moira’s and David’s hospitality. (My drinks bill would be rather large if it were the clubhouse we were stopping at instead, I reflect).  We discuss issues past, present and future.

John is again astounded at the dead and dying trees staggered around the Milne family home.

Within_The_Portal_Of_Everbrown_Golf_Course
Then we head to the course, slipping by the permanently-locked giant gate between Leyton Farm Road and the parking lot.

What would John make of the course, I wondered. Before we make our way to the dunes – where John used to go running  in the Sixties as a University harrier – I suggest we stop to read the plaque Trump has had erected at the course entrance.

John – like most people I’ve taken there – is speechless for a moment.

The plaque speaks of the course Trump ‘conceived and built… encompassing the world’s largest dunes’ and how it has been ‘delicately weaved’ into the dunes, producing ‘according to many, the greatest golf course anywhere in the world’.

John comments on the ‘grandiose’ nature of this monument to bad grammar and high-octane self-delusion. We all joke about the smaller sand dunes to be found in the Sahara, Death Valley, China.  Whilst out in Peru – as many may know – the Cerro Blanco dune stands 3,860 feet tall and takes at least 3 hours to climb. John wonders why it is important to claim that these are the world’s largest dunes.

“Why can’t people just enjoy them for what they are?” he rightly asks.

6,000_Jobs_At_Menie,_Repainting_Car_Bays
We walk along the tarred road that wends through the course until we can cut to the beach. John comments that, “It’s a beautiful May Sunday but so far I’ve seen only a few golfers way in the distance. I’ve yet to see anyone making a shot.”

We make it down onto the beach, where a breeze from the south is blowing, perhaps the main breeze that makes the dune system move and flow.

There is a Second World War machine-gun pillbox canted over and part-buried.

John heads for a quick swim, then we inspect the putting green that’s close to the sea, really close, the edge just 10 metres or so from the drop-off.

“Another big storm and that’s gone”, John says.

I can’t argue with that. Is it actually nearer the sea than was ever approved? MEMAG, the environmental watchdog, should know, but it’s a struggle to get them to communicate with me. Instead, a smart Trump-uniformed young guy in a buggy drives up, and asks in friendly fashion if we are enjoying ourselves and if we are ‘out walking.’ Not a lot we can really answer to that…

A_Salmon_Coble_Marooned_On Land
Walking past Michael Forbes’s salmon coble lying full of gear but marooned in the grass, John wonders how on earth the historic access Michael used to have from his own land to the sea can have been taken away.

I explain the police told him he would be charged if he tried to go through the newly-erected gate blocking his way to the shore.

The Aberdeen Outdoor Access officer has mailed me that he would be looking at these issues.

“Sad”, says John as our visit comes to a close.  “Such an air of failure and bleakness. It’s impossible to imagine this place until you’ve been here. Golf courses elsewhere that I know are full of buzz and fun. But any notion of play here seems to have been expunged.” I think this means he probably won’t be booking anytime soon.

So back we go, joking about donating an arm or a leg to buy a round of drinks in the clubhouse. Past that same clubhouse – and out round the big locked gate. We rescue Steve’s springer spaniel from a swamp of black slurry and head back to town.

“Sad” is the word I’ll most remember John Aberdein using.  The sun was shining, the sea was lovely, the people were great and he loved meeting them. But the atmosphere of this sterile, struggling, would-be country club had been boiled down to its simplest description. Sad.

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Old Susannah’s Journal No. 119 – Nudge, Nudge

 Opinion, Satire and Humour  3 Responses »
May 022013
 

Voice’s Old Susannah takes a look over the past week’s events in the ‘Deen and beyond. By Suzanne Kelly.

dictionary
Tally Ho!  This past week there was an astonishingly great fashion show by Gray’s School of Art second and third year fashion students, held in The Seven Incorporated Trades of Aberdeen.
It was professionally organised, smoothly and elegantly run (with a great reception), and the work on show was by any standard advanced beyond the expected level.  More on that elsewhere in Aberdeen Voice.

Let’s take a bit of a break from Mr Trump this week I think.  Besides which, he’s about to issue writs to the Scottish Government and I’m really scared!  If Donald doesn’t want windfarms, Donald will take us to court!

When a law abiding man like that takes legal action, you know he’s not doing it frivolously.  I’m sure he’s got a point:  hardly anyone’s signing up for golf at Balmedie, and it’s almost as if the 6,000 jobs that were created might be in peril. 

This lack of golfers could be due to the sandstorms, hailstorms, rain and cold weather, but far more likely people are staying away in case they’d have to see a wind farm offshore.  If I’m going to spend £195 for a round of golf, then have a £100 lunch for two consisting of a few burgers, fries and coffees, I don’t want to be looking at windfarms, either.  For that kind of money, I want Led Zeppelin performing live.

I hear the Mayday march might be cancelled this year.  Since all of the labour force is now doing so very well under the Coalition Government, the unions decided there is no need for any display.  Things are almost as great as when the entire town marched against Kate Dean.

There is also to be a party and events in Union Terrace Gardens that afternoon, but since it is so full of criminals and drug smugglers, I’m sure we’ll all be too afraid to go there.  If only we could have had the granite web.

The beautiful granite-clad concrete web may be toast now, but then again, we look set to get some very fetching, brand new glass-box office buildings soon.  Really, how do these trendy architects come up with these great designs?

These happening, nearly modern buildings will replace St Nicholas’ House.  The complex will blend right into the local architecture of Marischal College and won’t stick out like a dated pastiche predictable cheap sore thumb whatsoever.  No doubt these glass box office buildings will look absolutely state-of-the art near the Milne Triple Kirks glass box office buildings and won’t seem old dated and dirty in 3 years or less.

Given the seagull and pigeon populations, this may be a good time to open a window cleaning business.

Norwich decided to encourage some peregrines to nest in their city centre

Speaking of Triple Kirks, poor Stewart certainly has had his difficulties lately.  He may have failed to get Scottish football teams to vote with him despite his use of reasoned debate, but at least he showed the city centre wildlife he was boss.

You may remember how Stewart Milne, saviour of Scottish Football and tasteful developer arranged to have the long-settled peregrine falcons ‘discouraged’ from nesting in the Triple Kirks site when he took it over.  Well done Stewart.

Unlike clever, business-orientated Aberdeen, Norwich decided to encourage some peregrines to nest in their city centre.  The people of Norwich surprisingly find their rare peregrines and the newly-hatched chicks a source of interest, tourism, pride and education as they and the wider world watch the birds on cctv.  More info here:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-22368516 .

The RSBP believes there are fewer than 1400 breeding pairs in the UK.  With as many as that around, it is no wonder the previous Aberdeen City Council administration didn’t discourage Milne from discouraging the birds.  We need more office buildings you see.

As there is clearly not enough building work going on to placate important local contractors, some still cling to the possibility of turning Union Terrace Gardens into a parking lot/shopping mall, which we so desperately need.  What other explanation is there for the continued existence of the limited company which is the Aberdeen City Gardens Trust?

They’re still listed as an active company at Companies House, with directors Tom Smith, Lavinia Massie and of course Colin Crosby.  (I wonder how they managed to get so much positive Granite Web coverage in Chamber of Commerce publications?  Perhaps as a board member, Colin could help field the answer to this mystery.)  Then again, Colin is also on the Aberdeen Harbour Board, which now seeks to expand into the remaining coastal greenbelt.

An ambitious man, Colin; he’ll make us all rich yet.  Well, some of us rich anyway.

Between the ACGT, ACSEF, the Harbour Board, the Chamber of Commerce, Brewin Dolphin, and the board of Robert Gordon’s College, it’s a wonder Crosby hasn’t dropped any balls.

 we are all so weak-willed we’ll do whatever is made easy for us to do

For some reason I’m reminded of an episode of Dr Who in which invading aliens try to build monstrosities all over any green space they could all in the name of profit, although I can’t think why that should spring to mind just now.

Yes, it’s men like Colin who disprove the otherwise sound, logical government experiment in Nudge Theory.  I’m sure we all know what this important Nudge Theory is, but I’ll get onto it with a definition or two anyway.

Nudge Theory: (modern English jargon phrase) Behavioural theory that people are inherently lazy and need to be pushed into doing what is best for them.

The Nanny State lives on, and thank goodness for that.

It’s like this:  only the Colin Crosbys, Stewart Milnes and other rich businessmen aren’t lazy – the rest of us are.  Worse, we are all so weak-willed we’ll do whatever is made easy for us to do.  This highly-scientific theory is now a government triumph!  Result!  Not only is it part of the reason the country’s doing so well, but it’s also going to  be launched as an initiative!

And you thought there was no good news around.

The BBC covers this marvellous development, and supplies examples of what might otherwise sound like idiotic psychobabble.  For instance, if manufacturers put a label on a bottle of wine to the effect that the average person drinks one glass of wine a day, we’ll all follow suit and do just that.

School children will start eating healthier at lunchtimes too.  Why?  Because we’re going to put the tastier junk food items in locations that are more difficult to reach than healthier options.  This logic is brilliant!  You can see examples of how this works in the shops today.  Since lad’s mags, fags and booze are kept out of reach no one buys them because they’re too lazy to do so.

It’s clear this Nudge Theory is going to take off; it’s so easy to understand.

This scheme is going to make the government millions as well as make all of us safer and less stressed by having to think for ourselves.  I personally look forward to having my laziness used to steer me into good behaviour in this subtle manner.  It’s not at all Kafkaesque or Orwellian for the government to spend our time and our money on getting us to fall into line and be good.

But the really good news is that this will be a ….

Partnership Model: (modern English jargon) A business entity or company formed by government and private enterprise.

Well, since forming in 2010 the brains behind this great Nudge Theory scheme have really come together to ambitiously turn this scientific theory into a money-spinner.  Old Susannah has to wonder if people are inherently lazy, then what sets the people behind this Nudge Theory Partnership Model and their work to go into business with their scheme apart from the rest of us lazy, weak-willed populace.

I guess that they’re just smarter, better, brighter than we are.  Only to the worst kind of lazy cynic would this great humanitarian scheme look like a brazen wheeze and ploy to earn money for old and unnecessary rope.

Here’s what the BBC, lazy as they are, were able to find out:-

“It could become the first of “dozens” of elements of Whitehall to be spun out, as Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude plans to shake-up the Civil Service.

“A spokesman for Mr Maude said: ‘We are in a global race for the jobs and opportunities of the future. To get Britain back on the rise we must find innovative ways to deliver better services more efficiently’. [Old Susannah wonders if Mr Maude was too lazy to make his own statement to the press, and had to be ‘nudged’ into releasing a statement by this spokesman]

“’It’s great news that the world-renowned ‘nudge’ unit is spinning out from central government. As a mutual they will combine the benefits of private sector experience and investment with the innovation and commitment from staff leadership.  This accelerates our drive to make public assets pay their way. We hope to support dozens more new spin outs over the next few years. This is a whole new growth area and Britain is leading the way.”

Well, I’m impressed.  We’re going to make money out of exploiting people’s natural fecklessness.

The government will join with a private company (no doubt one completely unrelated to any government ministers, tax avoiders or big business interests or lobbyists.  Then, they’ll sell the scheme back to the government, which will demand government offices buy into it.

Lazy?  I guess you could say fecklessness is off and running as a way to make profits.  Or something like that.

Group Four changed to G4S, and did a splendid job running the Olympics

I wonder what this great wheeze will wind up earning for the taxpayer over the years?  Undoubtedly we’ll all be better off.  Otherwise, they’ll just tell us we’ll be better off, and we’ll be too lazy and/or too stupefied by our one glass of wine a day to bother to find out the real story.

If I could only motivate myself to do some work, or even to open another BrewDog.

Ages ago the Government started privatising everything, and look how well that’s turned out.  For instance, Group Four security started running various prison services.  These went so well, Group Four changed to G4S, and did a splendid job running the Olympics without any problems at all.  Could the government complain if things went wrong?

Not really – the contracts were sewn up very well, government and private sector overlaps tended to help each other out or at least look the other way if problems arose, and lobbyists were always on hand with sweeteners to keep the cogs well oiled.  And so it will be with the private/public money-spinning Partnership Model, which will industriously make money out of the fact we the people are lazy.

Nudge Nudge wink wink indeed.

With the Mayday march about to take place, I think we should extend an invitation to the brave, pioneering, hard-working men and women behind Nudge Theory and the Partnership Model to come and join in.  I have no doubt that if our teachers, carers, volunteers, firemen, etc. could meet the Nudge professionals, they’d understand just what real hard work is.

I was going to write about the latest in relation to the standoff between the press and the government over press regulation.  I was going to write something about Trump, windfarms, and golf, but I realise that I’m just too lazy to do so.

So it’s off to watch some television until I fall asleep, and hope the government will give me some clear pointers on what to do and what not to do, but without me having to even know I’m being steered to do the right thing, as decided by the Nudge Theory think-tank.  As long as I don’t have to think too much, or do much, that’ll suit me fine.

Time for my one glass of wine.

Next week – more fecklessness, or possibly some recklessness.

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Old Susannah No. 118 – The Twilight Saga

 Opinion, Satire and Humour  1 Response »
Apr 262013
 

Voice’s Old Susannah takes a look over the past week’s events in the ‘Deen and beyond. By Suzanne Kelly.

dictionary

The winds howl; the rain falls and a sandstorm or two batter East Grampian; it must be spring.  The biggest event of the past week was to be a ‘twilight’ visit to the Menie Estate.

When I heard of the ‘twilight’ visit to the Trump course, I’d initially expected that some sulky teenage movie stars would be coming for a photo shoot, but it was even more exciting than that:  Mrs Sarah Malone ‘Face of Grampian’ Bates would be meeting councillors and the public not once, but twice in the Trump parking lot. Result!

Before I give too much away about this exciting event, some of the other developments first.

What a pleasant surprise I had on Wednesday last week; I ran into Power Ranger Ian Tallboys. 

I was at a meeting of the East Grampian Coastal Partnership.   I’d no idea Tallboys was interested in environmental issues, so it came as something of a surprise.  He was with two women who were very friendly; so much so that they kept exchanging glances and giggling at each other when I approached their group.

I told Ian that Tullos Hill was a complete tip (I really should have said it looked like a war zone), and I asked him whether or not the waste recently left on the hill by the tree planters had been removed.

I guess a busy, important award-winning man like I.T. didn’t really have time to look into these minor details, so he avoided giving either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ answer, and instead explained he’d been talking to the contractors who planted the trees, etc. etc… I translated his answer to be ‘no’.   I was just flattered he seemed to recognise me.

If I weren’t so shy and retiring, I’d have asked for his autograph now that he’s won awards and been in the newspapers and all.  I really must stop pestering such celebrities; he has after all met HR Princess Anne who presented the award to the Tullos Hill deer and habitat destruction scheme.

Rumours that HRH is hiring Tallboys and CJ Piper to landscape royal properties remain unconfirmed.

Other than this happy chance meeting, it’s been another colourful week.  BrewDog have new additions  this week– ‘there is ‘Fake’ larger and a lovely porter named after the original BrewDog dog, Bracken.  Both are going down a storm.

Sadly, there were sandstorms in our area; sadly they could have had an effect on world’s greatest golf course, or worse – mess up Sarah Malone’s hair.  It wouldn’t do to look untidy while representing Donald Trump.

Remember – if you want to have a foursome and play a round (as it were), for a mere £190 (resident discount), you too can enjoy sandstorms, high winds, driving rain and collapsing greens.  But hurry – there are only three or four dozen places free every day, according to the online booking tool.

Media-wise we now have the Daily Record’s new Thursday publication

I’m sure that with the beautiful bed and breakfast facilities now up and running, the golf bookings will escalate even further – it’s no wonder they need a second course to cope with demand.  The interior shots of the world’s greatest bed and breakfast, yours for £295 per night only, show lovely shades of mustard soft furnishings.

The last time Old Susannah saw anything in this tasteful shade was at the city council elections; Aileen HoMalone wore an adorable oversized mustard jacket, which didn’t make her look like a theatre usher or real estate sales person at all.   Then there is the new fountain.  It defies description, and all it needs are one or two gnomes.

Media-wise we now have the Daily Record’s new Thursday publication, ‘The Aberdonian’.  Unfortunately it has seen fit to put on the cover of its first issue the wild claim that 2 out of 3 Aberdonians are against Trump when it comes to his wind farm position.

I don’t know why the Daily Record has bothered to come to our little area; after all we get all the news we need from the Press & Journal and its partner in impartiality, the Evening Express.  I’m sure that after a few visits from ACSEF members, billionaires, millionaires and so on the Aberdonian will fall into line, and do as it’s told, just like Aberdeen Journals.

Back to the Twilight Saga.  As I indicated, the real highlight of the past few days (if not the year) was the 23 April  council visit to the Menie Estate.  There should have been a 5.30 meeting followed by the hotly-anticipated Twilight session.

I arrived late to the 5.30 and was heartbroken:  the visit was virtually finished.   Our councillors must have been able to size up the issues in about 10 minutes flat.   And Alas!  Although Sarah Malone was at the first looking very fetching in high heels (I’m told), neither she nor anyone from Trump showed up for the twilight session, leaving councillors in the dark figuratively and literally.  For some inexplicable, eerie, mysterious reason, and for the first time in residents’ memories, the parking lot lights hadn’t been turned on.

It was not going to be successful anyway if the intention was to look at lighting issues such as ‘light spill’ – they chose a night when the moon was nearly full.  The werewolves would have loved it.

A giant white blob shimmered in the distance; it was hideous.

The night became spooky.  A few bats flitted around, and an owl swooped over the trees past the full moon.  The tentative start time of 9pm was greatly delayed by the Blackdog meeting concerning wind turbines which the councillors were at.  It was now nearly 10pm.

You could have been forgiven for thinking vampires and werewolves would emerge, but all I saw was a few zombies, some ghouls and a witch or two, but not the one we were waiting for.  No sign of Sarah; no sign of security.    A giant white blob shimmered in the distance; it was hideous.  I’d thought it was a ghost or daemon, but it was just the temporary marquee.  Horrible.

Apparently some oil company or other will be hosting a event in this luxurious structure this very weekend!  Expect celebrities in our area soon – maybe even politicians!  The paparazzi will be out in force no doubt.

While I was by then quite scared, most of the councillors were in great spirits, having driven to the estate to stand around in a cold, windy, dark parking lot waiting for non-existent Trump people to appear.  I know they were in great spirits because one of them said ‘This is *!(£%%~%*!! amusing, isn’t it?’’ and another ‘what a f*^&!!~%%!!!  joke!’.  And no sign of any Twilight actors, either.

Some unkind observers suggested the Trump people did this no-show deliberately to stall any planning decisions – but they’d never stoop to unfair tactics, I’m sure of it.  It could have been a bit of completely uncharacteristic incompetence which made them look arrogant, disorganised and disdainful of local councillors, but surely not.

However, I have emailed Mrs Bates (copy George Sorial) and I’m sure she’ll write back with an explanation any moment. I only hope it wasn’t some serious accident like a broken high-heel or chipped nail polish that kept our former beauty queen from her appointment with the councillors.

I’m sure a strategic genius like Donald Trump has never made a bad decision in his life.  Undoubtedly any bad decisions would have been someone else’s fault, kind of like the situation with the wee spot of financial trouble he has in Atlantic City.  And with that, it is time for some definitions.

Bad Judgment Call: (mod Eng. compound phrase) –  to make a decision or take an action with negative consequences.

Pity poor Euan Masterson, who was being charged with a count or two of threatening / abusive behaviour to his Ellon neighbours.  Perhaps he didn’t get a very strategic legal advisor after his arrest.  Some lawyers would recommend to their clients acting in an apologetic and contrite fashion.  But this is what Euan did next.

Masterson decided the best thing to do was call a policeman a ‘paedophile’ the day after his arrest. Later, he decided to swear and lunge at a security guard in prison.

When it was time for his trial, he refused to leave his cell, then shouted religious abuse at a court clerk, and acted aggressively to the sheriff.    It is safe to say Masterson made a few bad judgement calls.  If there was any doubt that he’d get a custodial sentence, there’s no doubt now.

Further examples of bad judgment calls can be found many places, but thankfully not at the World’s Greatest Golf Course. Everything is done with the utmost taste and to the letter of the law.  Whether choosing a lovely shade of gold duvet and beautiful decor for the reasonably priced (£295/night) bed and breakfast or designing a splendid concrete fountain with lions and cupids, decisions are well considered.

It is hard to believe, all things considered, that Sarah Malone had never designed a residential golf sports complex before now.

Deciding to go against the agreed plan and erect giant earth bunds and build a parking lot other than was specified could be construed either as bad judgment calls or as slaps in the face to residents, councillors and the planning process.  I am sure however that there is a carefully managed strategic plan the Trump group adhere to in all things, and they don’t go in for egotistical, aggressive toys-out-of-pram reactionary hysterical arbitrary behaviour.

just a happy opportunity to stand around in the cold, wind and darkness, and enjoy a spot of leisure time together

Deciding not to show up for an important meeting with a dozen councillors who have power over your plans is probably just some kind of clever strategy.  Missing this meeting could have simply been a one – off, but then again, the usually omniscient security guards were nowhere to be seen either.

Perhaps the Trump organisation thought doing a no-show was a great stalling tactic to buy more time and kick the (golf) ball into the long grass.  Alas, the long grass is sand-covered, turning brown,  and needs to be sprayed with blue dye.

Perhaps the hope was people at this meeting would think claims against security were exaggerated; it was certainly the first time I’d been there without seeing them driving around perpetually, looking for hardened criminals.

Whatever the reason for the Trump no-show and the lights not being put on, from the councillors and press point of view, this would not have been a bad judgment call – just a happy opportunity to stand around in the cold, wind and darkness, and enjoy a spot of leisure time together.   As mentioned before, were able to see bats and owls – which demonstrated that there was wildlife in the area.

No doubt the sooner Trump is granted leave to keep these lovely, gigantic lights and erect more of them (I  hope he doesn’t have any erection problems), this troublesome wildlife will be pushed out – another bonus.    With people running down to the clubhouse for signs of life, and milling around the parking lot in the cold, it was a very dynamic night, even if it wasn’t in the least ‘vibrant’.

It will be a real treat for ladies in evening wear to negotiate the wind, dark and weather to the temporary marquee to eat their £20 hamburgers at the upcoming event.  Tally ho!

Lying or Deception by Omission (Eng phrase) to deliberately mislead by excluding relevant information.

The Press & Journal is up for a well-deserved award!  The Newspaper Association believes as we all do that this is one of the greatest local newspapers.

There might have been a wee bit of something that looked like lying by omission when they didn’t tell us about the love between editor Damian Bates and his beauty queen Sarah Malone, Trump VP; after all, on one or two occasions it seemed the paper may have shown some slight favouritism towards the Trump project.

I’m sure this accidental amnesia was not in any way meant to mislead readers.  Let’s  support their contention for this newspaper accolade.

Lying by omission might happen if a councillor were to not make full disclosures on their register of interest.  Every councillor has to list what freebies, hospitality, gifts, favours from construction companies, drinks and meals at golf course temporary clubhouses and so on that they receive, otherwise the public would not know if there were any links between councillors and for instance rich American property tycoons.

Such councillors might be influenced by the receipt of such hospitality to favour the interests of their benefactors, and clearly that would be wrong.

A bad judgment call in such a situation would be to not fully complete their register of interest, to send harsh emails to the press, or perhaps to run around meetings with a photo of themselves with a developer, bragging about their relationship.  Old Susannah is happy to confirm that none of our elected councillors would be that dumb.  Obviously.

Now I’m off to put my modest little painting of Union Terrace Gardens into the Aberdeen Artists Society show.  This annual event is great fun, and a great showcase for local talent.  Until next time – Tally ho!

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Kept In The Dark: Trump Snubs Council

 Aberdeenshire, Featured, News  3 Responses »
Apr 262013
 

On April 23 the Formartine Councillors should have had two site visits to the Menie Estate parking lot – which had been erected in a manner inconsistent with the agreed permission.  The high bunds by the Munro home Leyton Cottage should have also been examined as they were not approved.  The second of the two visits was meant to take place at approximately 9pm, and was meant to show how the lighting affects the area: the Trump organisation did not show and did not turn the lights on – for the first time in residents’ memories.  Suzanne Kelly reports.

As nature intended. Temporary marquee 230413
The 5.30 meeting was amazingly brief; so brief in fact I virtually missed it. Councillors attended the parking lot, and unfortunately most did not pay sufficient attention to the bund built on Leyton Farm road by the Munro’s residence.

I had written to the councillors involved to point out that the bund, not built per the approved plans, seemed to have slipped off the scope of the retrospective permission request.

These bunds block light, block view, and more importantly are blowing sand and dirt into the Munro property.

The photograph of the sign in this article shows sand built up since sandstorms earlier this month; it is at the entrance to the Munro’s driveway.

Only a few councillors had answered my email about the bunds and assured me they would look at the situation; according to residents who watched the site visit (note – no comments were taken from the public who were only permitted to observe proceedings), only a few of the councillors ventured to the other side of the high, incongruous gate separating the parking from Leyton Farm Road to actually take in the giant scale of the bund.

This bund must not be allowed to simply be described as ‘landscaping’ – a euphemism used all too often in planning applications as an unquestionable remedy for environmental upheaval and environmental damage.

For instance the planned football stadium for Loirston Loch was going to infringe on wildlife territory – two EU protected species and many coastal birds (long in decline) were to be negatively impacted, but at the time remedial screening and ‘landscaping’ was put forward as a remedy by proponents, although the actual value of such landscaping for wildlife is questionable.

Susan Munro with another dying tree 23 04 13
Campaigners will work to ensure that there is no successful move to treat the earth bunds as landscaping.  The golf club owners seem very keen on planting fir trees on these sandy bunds. These trees, exposed to wind, salt spray and asked to grow on sandy soil keep dying, as illustrated.  They are replaced once nearly dead, an incredible waste of living trees.

The council may simply seek to consider the bund problem solved by forcing Trump to stop planting trees on them. This will not at all solve the problem of the lack of light, view or sand/dirt blowing into the Munro property, and is no solution..

Despite many requests to the Aberdeenshire council planning and media relations offices, there is still no satisfactory explanation of crucial questions.

I had been written to by Gordon Lyon who assured me weekly site visits had been carried out at the time to ensure compliance with the approved plans.  If this level of overseeing did take place, why then were parking and bunds erected which were non-compliant?

This question needs addressing.

Lyon also assured me that the temporary bunds were taken down – I had clearly described the bund by the Munro family home when I wrote.  It seems a porous parking lot surface was specified in the approved plan, which called for the layout to be sympathetic to the existing landscape.  In the event, a huge, rectangular, non-porous parking area was created.

These anomalies need to be addressed.

The temporary marquee is massive, and has metal sides with windows.  It is my understanding this structure can stay up for 28 days before it must be removed.  It went up approximately 6 days before this meeting took place.  Residents will monitor the situation.

A large party is scheduled for the marquee over this coming weekend; it seems that residents and wildlife will have to get used to such gatherings. Normal legislation permits noise up until 11pm at night, after which sound levels are to be kept low.  We will see how this is respected.

However, the most sensational part of the evening was a  non-event.

The ‘twilight’ visit was tentatively scheduled for 9pm.  I had been with the residents from 5.30 until this start time; we arrived from a resident’s home at 8:50pm. We knew the meeting might start late, as councillors first had to attend a meeting at Blackdog concerning controversial wind farm plans.

Sand windblown onto Munro land 23 04 13
We waited.  No lights came on.  The full moon – which would have made determining the lighting’s effect and light spill very difficult anyway – was the only light.

Residents and supporters present commented that the lights had virtually always come on once it got dark. But not this evening.

At approximately 09:50 the first cars arrived  in the parking area.  Councillors assembled.  The lot remained dark.

One window in the clubhouse had light shining from it; I volunteered to walk down and see if anyone was in, but there was no answer at the locked door.

The councillors and onlookers waited.  Ms Malone, who had attended the 5.30 meeting never showed up.  Security, usually an all-pervading presence at the estate and  who are known to jump out in front of people at night were likewise nowhere to be seen.

Suffice it to say that even councillors sympathetic to the Trump organisation were not best pleased, and approximately 15 minutes later they announced they would be leaving, unable to see the effects of the lights.  The lights stand on extremely high posts, one of which is near the Munro cottage.

With no lights on, it was clear that nocturnal wildlife is in the area.  Bats, protected by EU environmental regulations were very much in evidence, as was an owl or two.  It was  brought up in discussion with residents that two modern buildings which replaced traditional steading buildings near the top of Leyton Farm road used to have bats roosting.

The new structures, again erected apparently without planning permission, are of a metal construction, and are not conducive to bats roosting.  How wildlife which may have roosted in the old buildings was dealt with when the new buildings were erected should be looked into by environmental council officers.

The steadings should likewise be scrutinised, and if planning permission was needed (as an expert in traditional buildings tells me is the case), then action should be taken.

Councillors were not making comments to the observers, but it was plain to see that no one was happy to have wasted their time.  Whether or not this disregard for a scheduled planning assessment visit will go against the Trump organisation in future will be watched closely.

For now, the bunds remain at the Munro property, light spill remains unmeasured.  But for the Trump organisation, everything is just fine.

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In Conversation With Alicia Bruce – Part 1

 Aberdeenshire, Featured, Opinion  2 Responses »
Apr 222013
 

Suzanne Kelly reports on a recent conversation with artist Alicia Bruce  in a two-part article. The first looks at her background and her work regarding the Menie Estate.

Alicia Bruce with her exhibition at the Scottish Parliament in February 2013
Alicia Bruce was the first photographer to show the world the human cost of the Trump development at the Menie Estate, countering the anti-resident propaganda which dominates the local press to this day.
Aberdeen Voice was keen to find out more about her and her photography, and we finally catch up with her as she closes a show at Holyrood and works on a local project.

When and how did you decide to embark on a career in photography?  Where did you study?  Who and what inspired you?

I was 19 and studying Social Sciences.  My friend had a key to a darkroom – it was that moment when the first print came up in the darkroom and that was that.  It kind of changed my life and direction – I was completely obsessed and decided that was what I was going to do.

I turned up at Aberdeen College with a portfolio and said ‘let me in!’ I did an HND there followed by a degree in Photograph and Film in Edinburgh.

You are known for your work with the residents at the Menie Estate?  How did you get interested in this subject? 

I started the project in 2010 I had a exhibition slot a Peacock Visual Arts the following January.  The project began out of curiosity and also questioning what I was reading in the media and, the local press in general about Mike Forbes, ‘Trump Opponent’.  I thought ‘Is this guy really that angry – how can he sustain this?’

I’d visited the site with the project in mind once before, but went around the edges, the beach.   I then went to visit Mike’s croft.  He could have slammed the door in my face. – I told him  I had an exhibition coming up and I’d like to feature a portrait of him.  Mike thought this was brilliant; he was so welcoming and a real comedian.

He couldn’t have been nicer or more different from how he was portrayed in the press at that time.

David McCue was having his ‘Triumphant’ exhibition in Mike’s barn that same day and the atmosphere was electric.   That day I also met Susan Munro, John Munro, Sheila Forbes, David Milne, Molly Forbes, Anthony Baxter (who had just started filming his documentary) and Martin Ford to name a few.

We all hit it off and they were keen to tell me what was happening.  Susan and John were excited about my project idea as they loved my ‘Flood in the Highlands: after Sir Edwin Landseer’ photograph.  They had just seen some Landseer’s at the Glen Affric Lodge.

The community spirit and welcoming atmosphere that day was a million miles away from the media perceptions of the area.  I made time to meet all the residents individually later that week.  Their hospitality, generous spirit and enthusiasm for the project continued.

Initially Menie was going to be part of a wider exhibition theme focusing on social political issues in Aberdeen.  But Menie – you get caught up in everything that’s happening, and I couldn’t’ believe this story wasn’t being told.  I felt a responsibility to use my exhibition as a way of telling the story from the residents perception and showing what was about to be lost.

That clip of Anthony and Richard’s arrest is a vital document of social history

I couldn’t believe how quickly things were changing in 2010.  Some people would say ‘it is just a golf course’  It was difficult for people to comprehend what was really going on.

With Anthony Baxter there filming, there was the comfort of knowing he was documenting an overview of the situation which removed the pressure which I had felt to tell the whole story. It was great to work in parallel with him.  The shock hit all of us the day he was arrested – we were afraid that the footage would be lost.

That clip of Anthony and Richard’s arrest is a vital document of social history; it’s unquestionable.  I’m glad he was brave enough to record it.

My  exhibition, which opened in January 2011, and features in You’ve Been Trumped, contained portraits made in collaboration with the residents accompanied by their statements.  I also exhibited 19 landscape photographs depicting the wilderness landscape before it was ‘Trumped’.

When the exhibition opened it was first time ever  the residents  had positive press locally, nationally and internationally.  At the time that was a huge achievement.  The residents homes were then under threat of CPO.  Trump released at statement during the exhibition claiming he would no longer pursue CPO’s, the residents have yet to see that in writing.

My portraits with Mike, Sheila and Molly Forbes were acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland in February 2011: this was huge as it meant the residents of Menie, who had until then been misrepresented, had secured their place as National treasures but had also been empowered to represent themselves in the process.

You had a run-in with security covered in Duckrabbit blog – it sounds horrible.  Do you want to talk about it?

I have frequently been followed by security, stopped by the police in Menie – it shifts your perception of your place in the world.

We knew it wasn’t right – but it still became the norm, something we continually questioned but dealt with.  I know how to diffuse things; I know that as individuals they are just people doing a job so I will just have a chat to them.  I would always explain that I was doing nature photography.

I know my rights and would never delete an image or show them my photographs.  Anthony Baxter got the brunt of their anger.  Because I was a young female, and being chatty, they probably thought I was not interested in the politics in the same way Anthony was.  It helped having a doric accent too.  But my life wasn’t easy.

The scariest incident which I think you are referring to was the most unexpected.

Molly and Alicia
I was in Susan Munro’s garden and well off Trump property.  I had a packet of biscuits in one hand and turned round to take a shot.

The next thing a knew an angry security guard was screaming and threatening to smash my camera – he declared that back up was coming.  He blocked our route out with his van and, due to the bunds of earth planted by the developers round Susan’s, there would have been no witnesses if he attacked me.

Luckily I escaped unhurt as did my Hasselblad.  I called the police and the man was given a full, adult warning.  He should have been charged with attempted assault.

In August 2010 when I photographed David Milne for his portrait; he had an angry expression – that’s because there were workers on quad bikes going up and down the dunes.  After we left Hermit Point later that evening, the guys on quad bikes followed our car; they went into a field and then pulled right in front of the car on a country road with their lights off. We narrowly escaped a serious crash.

That same summer I’d been spotting and photographing little red flags which kept popping up on the landscape.   Mike was worried they would hurt the horse – he called the police and said he’d found all these things on the property – and he was charged with theft of £13 of red flags.

That same day the story ‘Trump opponent charged with theft’  was on the front page of the Evening Express.  I saw a copy at the Castlegate newsagent and I was furious.

I wasn’t speaking publicly at that time about what was happening – if I was too vocal at that stage, I wouldn’t have had access to complete the project.  It was surreal.  Now that my work is in the public domain and the story is out there, it’s easier to talk about.

We discussed theories about how that story got into the press so quickly.

There has been definite sway with the local news which seems to lack compassion for the local residents.  I certainly didn’t see any articles about local people harassed by developers.  The language is derogatory about the residents  calling them ‘protestors’ and  ‘Trump opponents’.

One of my achievements was getting a positive story in the Press & Journal the day the Peacock exhibition opened.

What do you think of recent developments at Menie?

The wind farm – I think they’re (Trump) could be looking for an excuse to exit.   It doesn’t look like the golf course is  going to bring the economic benefits that the Trump would have hoped.

Anthony put it eloquently – Trump says he wants real journalists; but he really wants sycophants.  I can’t help but think he’s got a bee in his bonnet about wind farms but it gives him a way to back out of the hotel and the housing development – which is where the money would come from.

David and Moira Sunday 27 Jan 2013
It’s bitter sweet seeing nature fighting back as the golf course collapses into the sea.  I have concerns about the long term effects of stabilising those sand dunes where meant to be protected. “our equivalent of the Amazon Rain Forrest’ Jim Hansom.

A forest was planted in front of David and Moira Milne’s house in January this year too.. The intimidation is endless.

The last time I visited, a large marquee was being constructed near the clubhouse.  David Milne poured us all a glass of champagne and toasted the windfarms.

Tell me about your recent show of the Menie photographs at Holyrood

The Scottish Government were the target audience for this exhibition held during Scottish Environment Week 2013.  I wanted the decision makers to come face to face with Mike and Sheila as they entered the chamber.  If Alex Salmond could not find the time to go to his constituents’ doorsteps, then I had to bring them to his.

In the run up to the exhibition there was an ongoing dialogue with the parliament’s exhibitions team and a formal application process.  I had to find an MSP sponsor months before the show could go ahead, I repeatedly invited  Alex Salmond (as the MSP for Menie) to be my sponsor but never received a definite yes.

At the final hour Patrick Harvie, Green MSP and Malcolm Chisholm, my local MSP, jointly supported the exhibition.  I am thankful to them for their support.

I chose the entrance to the Member’s Lobby as my exhibition space.   MSPs including Alex Salmond have to walk past that area to get to the chamber. Right at the entrance to the chamber I displayed a 30×30 inch print of the golf course collapsing into the sea with the caption:

“The Fourth Tee.

Trump International Golf Links Scotland

Nature fights back.

January 2013″

I thought it was important to get as many people to see that as possible– it was undeniable that that was happening and that the economic benefits of the course were questionable.

I asked Salmond why he had not been to visit Mike and Sheila

Getting the work into parliament was a long process. I had to be security checked and my work scanned which is standard practice.  The security forms ask questions like ‘Are you a terrorist?’  There were questions about your parents as well.

Alex Salmond coming to find me; it was a welcome surprise.  He described Mike and Molly as  “Great characters … great characters.  Mike stands up for Scotland.”  I pointed out that they are not characters; they are real people.

It was clear that the exhibition really got under Alex Salmond’s skin.  I asked Salmond why he had not been to visit Mike and Sheila.

At first he claimed he had been to see them but after I pointed at the image of their house a few times asking again “have you been here, have you been in this house?” he eventually answered “I’ve spoken to them but  I’ve not been to the croft… no.”  He then said  “it’s making lots of money.”  I responded,  “it’s falling apart.  Look!”

MSPs were talking to me all week about the photographs and the current situation in Menie.  It was an honour to represent and humanise the situation with Scotland’s decision makers. I was told by one MSP that some would be dreading having it there.  I made it clear that the outcome for the exhibition was to draw attention to the need for a public inquiry into the handling of the Trump Development.

David Milne released a petition the week before the show opened.

As well as the large scale printed portraits accompanied by statements and the landscape, I displayed a multimedia work on a 24″ screen.  The multimedia contained 20 captioned photographs of the environmental damage caused by the development with detailed captions.

MSPs would stand for long periods of time reading these.  The soundtrack was ‘Cover Your Eyes’ a song written by Karine Polwart about the Trump Development.

The exhibition had a high impact, got people talking, hopefully shifted policies and was celebrated in a parliamentary motion stating:

“That the Parliament congratulates the award-winning Aberdeenshire photographer, Alicia Bruce, on her ongoing photography project about Menie, an area of outstanding natural beauty on the Aberdeenshire coast; understands that her photographs from this series have gained international acclaim and have been published in The Times, The Scotsman and several arts magazines, and that two of the portraits have been acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland, and welcomes that Alicia’s photographs, many of which restage compositions from celebrated paintings, have helped to tell the story of the residents of Menie, whose homes came under threat due to what it considers the bullish golf course development of Donald Trump, and to portray a side of that story that otherwise might have gone unheard.”

Motion S4M-05749: Patrick Harvie, Glasgow, Scottish Green Party, Date Lodged: 27/02/2013
Menie Community Photography Project

More from Alicia and her other projects in the next instalment.

All images copyright Alicia Bruce

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Tilting At Windmills

 Aberdeen City, Featured, Information  7 Responses »
Apr 182013
 

By Duncan Harley.

empty-golf-course2
When Donald Trump bought the Menie Estate just outside Aberdeen, he may have thought he could ride roughshod over the people of Scotland and to a great extent it appears that he has so far succeeded.

Depending of course on your viewpoint, an SSSI has been converted into a luxury golf course leaving only a coastal strip of sand dunes as testament to the habitat which had existed on the Aberdeen coastline for thousands of years.

Environmentalist’s arguments seemed to have proved useless against the promise of wealth and jobs in the oil capital of Europe where unemployment runs at only about 2% but where those who make decisions about these things look to a future when “the oil will run out”.

Mr Trump is now challenging Scotland’s renewable energy policy vowing to bring a lawsuit to halt a 230 million pound ($349 million) wind farm development, consisting of 11 wind turbines, planned off the coast near Aberdeen in Scotland.

The output from the offshore scheme is estimated at up to 100MW and over twelve months would be capable of yielding, on average, enough clean, green electricity to power the equivalent of over 68,000 UK households according to Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm Ltd (AOWFL) – a joint venture between Swedish Energy Company Vattenfall and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG), a consortium of local business and university groups.

The National Record Office for Scotland estimated the number of households in the city in 2011 to be 103,843 which makes this groundbreaking scheme an attractive proposition to those who see offshore wind energy as a way forward.

Fergus Ewing, the Scottish energy minister on announcing the go ahead for the scheme told journalists that:

 “Offshore renewables represent a huge opportunity for Scotland, an opportunity to build up new industries and to deliver on our ambitious renewable energy and carbon reduction targets. The proposed European offshore wind deployment centre will give the industry the ability to test and demonstrate new technologies in order to accelerate its growth. [It] secures Aberdeen’s place as the energy capital of Europe.”

In response to the announcement of the go ahead by the Scottish Government Donald Trump, head of Trump International Golf Club Scotland Ltd, said:

“We will spend whatever monies are necessary to see to it that these huge and unsightly industrial wind turbines are never constructed,”

The rhetoric seems familiar somehow. Prior to his appearance in front of the Scottish Government Economy Energy and Tourism Committee in 2012 he was quoted as saying that there was not a shred of evidence that turbines benefit the environment. During a press conference following this hearing he told journalists that:

“If Alex Salmond was smart, he would stop right now because what he’s doing to Scotland is terrible. This is the same thing as al-Megrahi, when they let him out of prison because he would die in two weeks. And guess what, he was running around the park last week”

advert-image
Many Scots were however bemused when in December 2012 a full page advertisement appeared in some regional newspapers featuring an image of a Californian wind farm next to a US freeway and a photo of First Minister Alex Salmond, the suggestion being  that these were in some way linked.

The full page advert, dated 14th December 2012, also appeared to link the Lockerbie terrorist bombing with the Scottish Governments policy on renewable energy and asked “Is this the future for Scotland?” Readers were urged to “Take action. Write, demonstrate and protest Alex Salmond”.

Some suspected left wing anti capitalist rhetoric and others wondered if April 1st had come early.

However on close inspection, tucked away in the corner of the page was an indication that the advert had been placed by a local golf course. Trump International Golf Links Scotland no less!

The full text of the advert reads:

Is this the future for Scotland?
Tourism will suffer and the beauty of your country is in jeopardy!
This is the same mind that backed the release of terrorist al-Megrahi
“for humane reasons” — after he ruthlessly killed 270 people on Pan-Am 103 over Lockerbie.
“Take action. Write, demonstrate and protest Alex Salmond”
Alex.Salmond.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

For many the Lockerbie link was particularly offensive. Not only was the claim that 270 people were killed on Pan-Am 103 over Lockerbie inaccurate, the correct figure is 259 plus the eleven residents of Lockerbie who were killed on the ground, but the use of the tragedy to bolster an argument against renewable energy seemed frankly quite wrong particularly since the anniversary of the 1988 bombing falls on 21st December just a week after the adverts publication.

Scottish Green MSP Patrick Harvie was quick to label the Trump comments as sick saying:

“Trump has sunk to a new low”

and

“Trump’s organisation has already trashed a unique environment on the coast of Aberdeenshire and trampled on the rights of local people, now he appears to be determined to buy up chunks of the Scottish press.”

Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the 1988 bombing, said the murders had “no place in a confrontation between an entrepreneur who is interested in making money in Scotland and the government”.

This was not the first time the Trump organisation had attracted criticism following the placing of adverts in the Scottish press.

Complaints about a previous advert had been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) with Trump being warned “not to exaggerate the number of turbines likely to be installed or the possible consequences of the Scottish Governments plans to use wind turbines”.

electric-golf-cart
This followed a regional press advert dated 19th September 2012 for Communities Against Turbines Scotland, and was headed “Welcome to Scotland!” above a photograph of broken and rusty wind turbines with text stating, “Alex Salmond wants to build 8,750 of these monstrosities – just think about it! Join us in Edinburgh for a march and a rally.”

Inevitably the ASA were again faced with complaints, 21 in all, about the new advertisement.

The grounds for complaint centred around three topics.

  1.  That tourism will suffer and the beauty of your country is in jeopardy.
  2.  The image of turbines overlooking an American freeway was misleading.
  3.  The references to al-Megrahi and the Lockerbie bombing were inappropriate and likely to cause offence.

On point one, despite Trump International’s argument that they had secured clearance from the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) for the advert, the ASA found that the complaint was upheld since the statement that tourism would suffer could not be substantiated. The statement in the advert breached the rules on grounds of misleading advertising and substantiation.

On point two, the ASA considered that the image alongside the claim “tourism will suffer and the beauty of your country is in jeopardy” implied that the wind turbines overlooking an American freeway was representative of a proposed wind farm in Scotland.

In the absence of evidence that this was the case, they upheld the complaint and concluded that it was misleading. The image breached the rules on grounds of misleading advertising and substantiation.

On point three, the ASA considered that the claim “This is the same mind that backed the release of terrorist al-Megrahi “for humane reasons” — after he ruthlessly killed 270 people on Pan-Am 103 over Lockerbie.” drew attention to the Lockerbie bombing in order to comment on Alex Salmond’s policies on renewable energies.

However they considered that readers were likely to find this distasteful rather than offensive and judged that the claim did not breach the advertising standards code.

In conclusion, the Advertising Standards Authority state:

“The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Trump International Golf Club Scotland Ltd not to make claims unless they could be substantiated with robust evidence and not to use misleading imagery.”

A victory for truth and democracy? Perhaps we shall have to wait and see.

As a footnote, it is noteworthy that the Aberdeen Press and Journal, one of the two Scottish newspapers to publish the Trump advert, carried a follow up news item the day after entitled “Trumps turbines link to Lockerbie ‘sick'”, and quoting the Trump Organisation ex -vice president George Sorial as saying that he had “wanted the content” of the advert “to be much stronger because Scotland is facing an economic and environmental meltdown if wind turbines are not stopped”.

Don Quixote would have been hard put to make sense of it all. Perhaps, however, time is running out for Trump.

Sources

Offshore Turbines Aberdeen Bay: http://www.vattenfall.co.uk/en/aberdeen-bay.htm
Lockerbie Bomb: http://lockerbiecase.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/jim-swire-criticises-donald-trump-over.html
The Trump on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump
Scottish Parliament Trump Submission: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-17837110
and: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/25/donald-trump-appearance-scottish-parliament
Advertising Standards Authority: http://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2012/9/The-Trump-Organization-LLC/SHP_ADJ_195478.aspx

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Trump Planning: Aberdeenshire Corrects Its Statement

 Aberdeenshire, Featured, Information  6 Responses »
Apr 052013
 

The twists and turns in the ongoing Trump Scotland saga continue.  Campaigners and residents  celebrated when they learnt of the recent decision to defer a retrospective planning application the Trump organisation had applied for.  An Aberdeenshire council spokesperson contacted Aberdeen Voice with a statement  which now has to be retracted, as the spokesperson made an error.

Likewise, Aberdeen Voice’s Suzanne Kelly needs to retract an error:  she thought the spokesperson, Gordon Lyon, had retired following a call to Council offices over a year ago.  It is time to look at these retractions.  Could one of these mistakes actually have the germ of a great idea in it?

Susan Munro Looking Out Of Her Kitchen At A Bund Photo - March 2013
For some reason the Shire’s planning officers recommended retrospective approval be granted to the Trump organisation at Menie – and not for the first time.

An application relating to parking and the bunds by Leyton Cottage sat for some 8 months with no apparent action.

Then towards the end of March, planners changed the application – less than a week before it was suddenly announced the committee would vote on the matter on 26th March.

An eagle-eyed local campaigner spotted this situation, and lobbying began.

On previous occasions retrospective approval was sought for work already carried out which was contrary to the approved plan – and such permission was normally granted.   Against that background residents and campaigners were dismayed when the 8 month-old retrospective application in question was altered (new items were added, and an apparent contradiction was identified) and recommended for approval.

None of those who had formalised their objections were notified of these developments.  Most did not hold out much hope there would be anything but approval.

Perhaps it was the lobbying; perhaps the influence of the film ‘you’ve been trumped’; perhaps it was the 18,000-plus petition signatories demanding a government public inquiry – but the Committee deferred their decision.

Campaigners were delighted that commonsense prevailed in this case, even if it was only a deferment; it was still a decision not to take the planning officer’s recommendation to approve.  Approval would have meant the bunds blocking light and views to the Munro’s cottage could have stayed put.

These bunds serve absolutely no essential purpose, but have instead changed the family’s quality of life for the worse.  Soil and sand blows from it into their property, damaging their plants and blowing into their house.  It has even damaged their car engines.

Following the Committee’s decision on 26 March, I received an email from Council spokesperson Gordon Lyon, which I quoted in an article concerning the (welcome) decision of the Formartine Area Committee to defer any decision on the retrospective planning permission it sought at Menie.  (The article can be found here; it will soon have a comment retracting the erroneous statement made by Lyon:  ).

Gordon Lyon’s email to me read in part:-

“the application was deferred to allow a site visit and a public hearing. (there was no vote – the action was agreed by committee). The date and time of both will be arranged in due course.”

Sadly, part of the happiness at this decision and the Council’s statement above will be short-lived.  Mr Lyon emailed me on the morning of 28th March with this correction:-

“entirely my fault, but there was actually no decision to have a public hearing in relation to Menie – this was in relation to the application for the electricity substation at Blackdog – I was dealing with calls from the BBC and others about that while I was trying to write my email to you, and wrongly typed that in my email. 

“The application was deferred for a site visit only. Sincere apologies, it was an error on my part. I hope this doesn’t inconvenience you unduly.”

For the record I can completely sympathise with Mr Lyon. Mistakes do happen (I will apologise for one in this piece in a moment). However, the importance of this correction is such that simply amending an old article which has been superseded is insufficient to ensuring people know that a hearing is not a condition imposed by the Committee.

However: Would it perhaps be a good idea for people to now lobby the Council that this SHOULD be a condition of any further permission?

For the record, David Milne’s petition now has over 18,000 signatories demanding a public inquiry into the entire handling of the Trump golf course.  There are many aspects of how this permission to build on the site of two SSSIs, and a paper I wrote outlines some (but not all) of the issues concerned.

It is hoped these issues and many more would be part of the public inquiry, which now seems a certainty due to the strong public feeling and subsequent developments.  (My paper can be found here. )

At present only a few campaigners know that the hearing is not a condition imposed by the Formartine Committee prior to granting the retrospective permission desired.

However, the campaigners I did manage to speak to believe strongly that with all that has happened and with public feeling being what it is, it would only be prudent, fair and reasonable to now lobby for a public hearing and an inquiry to come before any further planning permission is granted.

What is impossible to understand is why retrospective planning should be needed in the first place, let alone be granted.

Historically, the Aberdeenshire council’s spokesperson Gordon Lyon assured me that the approved plan was being adhered to, writing this in August 2011:-

“This development is well-scrutinised and the approved plans are being adhered to“.

“Site inspections are undertaken on a weekly basis by various organisations to ensure that the development is being carried out according to the planning permission granted.”

It soon became apparent to me that deviation was taking place on several occasions – everything from the size of the road sign to the use of culverts instead of bridges, and of course the parking lot, temporary clubhouse and the bunds – all arguably were not as per the agreed plan.

I did try to get clarification; I am still trying.  Initially I phoned the Council some months after receiving the assurances, but I was told over the phone that their spokesperson, Gordon Lyon, had ‘gone’.  I tried to find out more; a local told me that Lyon had retired.  I assumed this was the case, as he had gone. I then simply started doing my own research.

I am more than happy to offer my apology to Mr Lyon and the Shire Council; I accept that he has not retired, and I apologise for any inconvenience caused to him, the Shire Council or his family.

Mistakes do happen.  Gordon Lyon’s made one; I’ve made some.  Perhaps turning the Menie Estate over for development in the first place was the biggest error of all.

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A Big Tint

 Aberdeenshire, Creative Writing  No Responses »
Mar 282013
 

trumpgolfpic
By Bob Smith.

Trumpie a see, wints tae hae a marquee
Plunkit richt in the middle o Menie
Haudin waddins an sic, fer ony rich prick
Fit am sure wull cost a fair penny

A marquee’s jist a name, fer a big tint on a frame
Far monied fowk can spik tae their pallies
Wull Trump be mine host, as pigs they div roast
An doon champers in a couple o swallies

Fae tap o marquee, flags ye micht see
Blawin stracht oot in the win
As sum drunken plunkers, faa intae the bunkers
Iss thocht it fair maks me grin

Nae doot Trump wull say, in his loodest bray
It’s the “Greatest Marquee in the Warld”
Fer the openin evint, invites wull be sint
As the Trump flags are infurled

Nae invite ye’ll see, tae the likes o me
Onywye a wid hae tae refuse
Local press wull be keen, tae mak sure they’re seen
So’s they hae the odd gin as they newse

As fowk dee a jig, fin samplin the pig
An lood music ower the dunes it is blarin
Wull oor boys in blue, stop the hullaballoo
Or micht they Trump badges be wearin

Bob Smith “The Poetry Mannie” 2013

Old Susannah’s Journal No. 115 – Self Knowledge

 Articles, Opinion, Satire and Humour  7 Responses »
Mar 282013
 

Voice’s Old Susannah takes a look over the past week’s events in the ‘Deen and beyond. By Suzanne Kelly.

dictionary

What a week it’s been.  Firstly (before the satire sets in), I have been asked to convey thanks to the Formartine councillors who took the logical, courageous, sensible, prudent step of deferring the planning permission Trump had asked for.

Several Aberdeenshire residents asked me to write on their behalf to the councillors in question, asking them not to approve the retrospective permission.  These residents, and plenty more, are very pleased with the outcome, and hope to see the bunds down – and Trump Golf International forced to comply with what was approved.

If the councillors visit the Munro’s now-dark kitchen and look out the window at the bund which blocks the light as well as the view, they cannot fail to vote to take the bund down. 

Thanks to the residents, those who lobbied, and above all, to the person who found out the shire had changed documents on this application, yet still recommended approval.

I had a delicious meal at Norwood Hall this week, enjoying some fun and games courtesy of Team Challenge.

There was a crazy golf game set up.  It cost far less than £200 or so to play, there wasn’t sand and snow blowing at the players, none of the course disintegrated, and coffee and a sandwich didn’t break the bank.  No security guards jumped out in front of me as I prepared to putt; I even got a hole in one.  Thanks Norwood and Team Challenge.

fisher_brewdog_montage_for_os_
I made a brief visit or two to BrewDog, which continues to be a great place to enjoy the odd half or two, and talk to interesting, friendly people.

Long may it run.

My photo shows some sensational new wall art by BrewDog’s Fisher; he’s organised it so undergrads from Gray’s can hang work up in the bar, too. Expect the first art in a few days.

There is a fundraiser for Willows down in Chichester this Saturday night; I’m very happy to be going.  Patron Paul Rodgers and his wife Cynthia will be there; Paul’s performing, as is…. Deborah Bonham, who has a new album imminent.  (If you didn’t know, she is sister to the late, great, unequalled John Henry Bonham of Led Zeppelin).

There will be an auction of memorabilia afterwards as well. (This sounds like my idea of heaven).  It is hoped that a concert can take place closer to Willows sometime, but this night is for two charities and the performers are based in that part of the world.  Willows own open day is this Sunday; let’s hope the weather improves for their sake and the sake of all animals.

But now it’s time for a few relevant definitions based on this week’s events; this week with an eye on the modern self.

Self-harming: (Modern English compound noun) The act of inflicting deliberate injury on oneself, often involving bloodletting and sharp instruments; an emotional illness.

Perhaps the most bizarre health-related story of this or any other recent week concerns those poor souls who self-harm.  Thankfully, this is the 21st century, and the latest psychological treatments are at hand to help.

Unsted Park School has this unfortunate malaise in hand.  Well, actually, one of its teachers hands out sterilised blades to self-harmers.

According to the BBC, a school spokeswoman said:-

“This was a short-term, local procedure introduced by the head teacher and school principal who genuinely believed it was in the best interests of the pupil.

“However, they accept that the procedure should not have been implemented without further approvals having been obtained from key stakeholders and senior management prior to its introduction.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-21941578

This amazing statement has failed to impress school inspection officials, who for some reason find dishing out razor blades to emotionally-disturbed young people ‘deeply worrying.’  You don’t say.

For ‘stakeholders’ read friends and family, who some feel just might want to have a say in whether or not their friend, daughter, son or sibling was given a way to self-harm.

Apparently we are supposed to be happy that this was ‘supervised’ and that the blades were sterilised.  We wouldn’t want anyone getting hurt while self-harming, would we?  And you thought you’d heard everything.

It would be rather nice to know who this teacher was, what approval they had received and from whom for this great scheme, what psychological training they had, and to know what in the heck they were thinking to actually think this was in anyone’s best interest.  Wherever this teacher gets their ideas from needs serious investigation.

Self-justification: (noun) Rationalising one’s own methods and actions.

Looking through a Press & Journal this week, I learnt that the ‘Tree for Every Citizen’ Scheme was a great success! Although this gave me déjà vu to see in print, it’s won an award!

Those behind this huge success story told the P&J that the scheme was opposed by some animal rights activists, but it’s an award-winning, tree-celebrating, all-singing, all-shooting success.  I’m so happy to hear it.

Only a pedant would point out that the local community councils wanted to keep the meadowland and the deer they had – a herd which had wandered the hill for over 70 years with no problems or over-population issues.

Only a petty mind would care that Chris Piper, man behind the scheme, made about £70,000 from the City, and over £100,000 was spent to turn our meadow into a defoliated mess.  Trees at St Fitticks are growing, says the City Council, so it must be true.  Of course they are no taller than they were two years ago (well, the tree protector tubes that aren’t actually hollow anyway).

The area is choked with weeds, but if the city and the P&J say it’s a successful scheme, then who am I, thousands of local residents who signed a petition, the Scottish SPCA, Animal Concern Advice Line, and a host of political figures to disagree?

Couldn't we have left a little gorse for overwintering and early nesting species?
Bulldozing gorse, killing deer, getting rid of the wildlife we had from butterflies and birds to small mammals and deer – these can all be explained away by Tallboys, HoMalone and Piper – they had to kill this wildlife so that they would make a home for wildlife later on.

The trees newly planted on the hill are already surrounded by taller weeds.

The SNH told us to spend time and money ensuring that weeds didn’t hinder the scheme for a second time (it’s already cost us £43,800). For some reason, none of this gets into the Press & Journal.  I wonder why.

More tellingly, there is not a single photo in the P&J showing what the hill looks like now.

If you want to see our own war zone, go and visit it for yourself, or see older photos in Aberdeen Voice.  But as long as a handful of self-enriching, self-aggrandising people behind this scheme are happy, than what’s the wishes of thousands of others and our previous wildlife haven in comparison?

Self-Deluding: (compound noun) State of convincing one’s self that an untruth is actually true.

Mr Trump says offshore wind farms,  which sadly for him  were approved this week, will destroy Scotland.

For some years now, I thought it would be acceptable to have an offshore wind farm.  Even though someone as astute and as big an environmentalist as Donald Trump said it was a horrible idea, I thought there might be some merit in wind over nuclear energy or some other fracking nonsense.

Well, earlier this week I was nearly convinced that Mr Trump was right all along.

Again I look this week to the Press & Journal for my facts:  and what I saw at first terrified me.  The paper showed a picture of St Nicholas House, coming in at around 174 feet high, and next to it, towering over it (!) was a wind turbine which could actually be over 600 feet tall!  I’m not kidding!

My first reaction was of course complete horror:  “Did everyone know that an offshore wind turbine can actually be even taller than St Nicholas House?  Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I wondered.   I’d never have guessed!

The paper’s position seems to be that wind turbines, or windmills as Donald  Trump likes to call them, of this size would of course ruin Scotland not only for tourists – but for golfers as well, and we can’t have that obviously.

Perhaps we should back a call not to put any 600 ft windfarms in town next to St Nicholas House.

It’s an amazing bit of coincidence that the paper and Donald Trump are against windfarms, and keep repeating what a nightmare offshore windfarms would be if near The Donald.  They do say great minds think alike.  Then again, they also say fools seldom differ, particularly if one really rich fool hires the wife of a fool who wants advertising revenue.

Thinking over this great illustration for a nanosecond or two, I became less alarmed.  While I’m sure the P&J meant well, and aren’t  trying to cause any panic, I would like to refer whoever wrote this to an old episode of the inimitable Father Ted. 

Ted and Dougal are in a caravan on holiday (but obviously not in Scotland because there isn’t enough golf and there are windfarms).  Father Ted holds a plastic toy cow, shows it to Dougal, and points out the window to some farm animals in a faraway field.   Dougal seems baffled, looking from the plastic cow in his hand to the cows and bulls in the field.

“This looks big,” Ted says to Dougal, “but those are very, very far away.” Ted explains.

Perhaps a wind farm far off shore would not look as big as one next to St Nicholas House?  A wild theory, but I’ve enough self-confidence to put it out there.  In the meantime, no doubt Trump and the P&J will keep repeating their line that windfarms must go.

Keep repeating it gentlemen; you’ll eventually start to believe it.

Self confidence: (noun) A condition of self-awareness and acceptance; being at ease with one’s self.

In this age, self-confidence is essential to get by.  Self confidence is necessary in business and social situations , but remember, girls must not be very self-confident, or they run the risk of being ‘full of themselves’, a sin men are rarely guilty of.

It must be a hard thing to be a man in today’s world and lack self-confidence.  Take for a moment (or just take full stop) one Mr Donald Trump.

This retiring wallflower billionaire recluse should really think about getting himself some public relations.  He’s rarely mentioned in the press, despite all his good works. His name and winsome photo only appear in the media if he goes somewhere, says something, sneezes, holds a golf club, or gets on or off of an airplane.

He should really stop hiding his light under a bushel.  For instance, he stated to a government inquiry that he considers himself to be an environmentalist.  Try as I might, I can’t find any news stories to back this up.

Perhaps there is some way he can ingratiate himself further still with the Scottish public.  Does he have any Scottish ancestry, I wonder?  Perhaps he could get a coat of arms made up; this would impress us all.

Sad to say, but a lack of self-confidence can come from a lack of personal grooming skills.  Perhaps he should let his hair down a bit more or something.  Perhaps a trip to the dentist might help; on those rare occasions he is seen in the press, the faces he makes suggests wisdom tooth issues or badly fitting dentures.  Good luck to you Donald; we’re all behind you (one way or the other).

I think we’d best leave it there for now.  A very Happy Easter Weekend to those celebrating it.  Whatever you celebrate or don’t celebrate, the National Trust has some great activities for families this weekend (and there is the Willows open day, too).  Let’s hope for some continued warmer weather.

Special Easter Egg Hunt Competition:  Hidden in this satirical column are one or two grammatical errors!  Yes really!  If our sub editor doesn’t spot them, not only will they have their salary withheld, but the first reader to point out the grammatical/spelling errors will win the sub editor’s AV salary for the week!

Tally Ho!

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