Donald Trump, hereinafter referred to as The Great Fart (TGF), is challenging the decision to license an offshore wind farm in the UK Supreme Court. The 11 turbines are due to be sited about two miles from his Aberdeenshire golf course in Scotland. TGF has already lost the case in the highest court in Scotland and has threatened that if he loses in the Supreme Court, he will appeal to "the European courts".
The case was heard before the UK Supreme Court today, the decision will probably be in several weeks. Details and how to watch video of the proceedings (from tomorrow) are below the fold.
You may recall this golf course is featured in Anthony Baxter's documentary "You've Been Trumped" (which should be required viewing). There is a strong suggestion in the movie that Scottish politicians took a liberal interpretation of their powers in giving planning permission for it. You may note the further irony that TGF destroyed environmentally sensitive land to build the links in the first place and is now complaining about the view.
Trump is going to build two more [golf courses] – alongside a 450-room hotel and 1,500 luxury homes. The trouble is, the land he has purchased occupies one of Europe’s most environmentally sensitive stretches of coast, described by one leading scientist as Scotland’s Amazon rain forest. And the handful of local residents don't want it destroyed.
After the Scottish Government overturns its own environmental laws to give Trump the green light, the stage is set for an extraordinary summer of discontent, as the bulldozers spring into action. Water and power is cut off, land disputes erupt, and some residents have thousands of tonnes of earth piled up next to their homes. Complaints go ignored by the police, who instead arrest the film's director, Anthony Baxter. Local exasperation comes to a surreal head as the now “Dr” Trump scoops up an honorary doctorate from a local university, even as his tractors turn wild, untouched dunes into fairways.
The former Scottish First Minister was widely accused of being unduly influenced by TGF's promise of jobs in an area of high unemployment. Unfortunately for Alex Salmond,
the promises were about as effective as a fart in a hurricane and about as convincing as his hair in one.
There, however, the problem is less about what Trump says, and more about what he’s actually done — run roughshod over protected dunes to build an elite golf course, attack an offshore wind energy project because it “ruined” his view, cajole politicians into supporting his every whim. He’s also run into trouble for the promises he’s failed to keep — when the deal ultimately went sour, he flew off in his private jet, leaving behind none of the economic prosperity he’d sworn the project would create.
Interviewed over his new documentary about the environmental disasters golf courses produce,
Anthony Baxter expands on some of the detail.
In Scotland, he claimed that he was going to be creating 6,000 jobs, and he invested one and a half billion dollars into what he claimed was going to be the greatest golf course in the world. Now, that was 10 years ago, and to date we have one golf course built, we have less than 200 jobs created, we have tens of millions of dollars having been invested, and not the $1.5 billion — which was such a stupid number under any scrutiny. But the Scottish government believed his promises, and that’s also part of the problem with this whole thing, because we look to our governments to protect us from these kinds of developments, and the Scottish government completely failed in this case to protect a site of special scientific interest, which was supposed to be protected for future generations to enjoy, and that’s now been lost because of the golf course built there.
In TGF's standard operating procedure, anyone crossing him goes from favorite buddy (or maybe in this case it should be caddy) to be the focus of his bile and wildly
false claims:
Trump has accused Scotland’s former first minister, Alex Salmond – originally a powerful ally for the New York-based property developer - of being biased in favour of the £230m project and skewing the approval process.
In June, three senior judges in Edinburgh ruled that the allegations were unfounded and that Trump had no grounds for accusing Scottish ministers of illegally agreeing to license the experimental 100MW offshore windfarm.
The golf course also features as an asset in his financial declaration as part of his run for the Presidency.
CNBC's analysis suggests TGF has more Mickey Mouse accountants than the Disney Corporation.
The financial disclosure form values many of Trump's courses at two to four times the multiples of annual revenue other courses command, in an industry where most operators struggle to make profits, according to golf course appraisers. An industry rule of thumb is that courses are worth 1 to 1.5 times their annual revenue....
Trump's penchant for grandiose valuation appears most pronounced when he appraises his most valuable courses.
The Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen, Scotland, is worth more than $50 million even though it had golf-related revenue of $4.3 million last year, according to the filing.
To save you getting your calculator out, TGF values the course at 11.63 times annual income. Using the industry norm, it is worth only up to $6.45 million. The shortfall of $43.5 million may be contributing to his dependence on free coverage on TV "news" shows rather than spending on paid for advertisements.
Baxter's new movie also reveals some details about TGF's offspring that may not go down too well with the American public after the "Cecil the Lion" incident.
In addition to the sit-down with Trump, Baxter was also given access to Donald Trump, Jr., who describes himself as "environmentally conscious" but quickly pivots when asked about photographs of him holding the tail of a dead elephant and standing next to his brother, Eric, cradling the carcass of a leopard during a big game hunt in Africa.
The
Little Farts' death safari took place in 2012. In typical fashion, TGF likes to have things both ways even back then.
Their father does not share the views of his sons, and the elder Donald told TMZ that 'My sons love hunting. They're hunters and they've become good at it. I am not a believer in hunting and I'm surprised they like it.'
'I know that anything they did was 100% OK in terms of the hunting community,' Mr Trump continued.
At least his sons did provide some employment and, unpleasant as it may seem, culling elephants can be necessary to preserve the character of the savanna. (Not that the money from permits goes anywhere other than the coffers of Zimbabwe's elite). I would though rather have elephants bulldozing the ground than TGF destroying precious environmental jewels in a vanity project.
The case has the reference(Case UKSC 2015/0160). In this summary, the "Appellants" are Trump International Golf Club Scotland Ltd and the "Respondents" the Scottish Government.
On 1 August 2011 Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm Limited applied for consent under s.36 of the Electricity Act 1989 for the construction and operation of an electricity generating station and wind turbine / tower and turbine testing project called the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre, to be located in Aberdeen Bay, 1-2 km off the coast of Blackdog, Aberdeenshire. On 26 March 2013 the respondents granted consent for the wind farm, subject to conditions. Condition 14 requires the submission of a detailed Design Statement to the respondents for approval prior to commencement of the development. The appellants, whose Menie Golf Course is situated within 3.5 km of the nearest proposed wind turbine, opposed the construction of the wind farm. The appellants brought proceedings seeking a declarator that the respondents' decision was unlawful and they sought reduction. The appellants' petition for judicial review was dismissed by the Outer House of the Court of Session. A Reclaiming Motion was refused by the Inner House of the Court of Session.
The hearing started at 10.30 London time and it looks like it has already finished. Video of the proceedings should be available via the above link tomorrow. It may take some time for the Justices to reach a decision but their delivering it will be also be available and is likely to be posted on the
Court's YouTube Channel. (Please note the strict restrictions on the use of these in current cases.) The link also has a video about the Court and how cases reach it.