This may be of interest to Aberdeenshire folks and those interested in preserving natural habitats in general. Keen golfers may not be so interested. A good friend at Findhorn sent me this in an email just now.

'As you might know, US property tycoon Donald Trump is attempting to develop Menie Estate on the Aberdeenshire coast. The site is a tremendous untouched sand dune system, next door to Forvie National Nature Reserve, and a protected site (SSSI) in its own right. However, Trump wants to build 2 golf courses, 1500 homes (all well outside the price range of the locals) and a hotel a third of a mile long. It flies in the face of Scottish development and environmental legislation, but due to the spin created by a very well-oiled PR machine, has a lot of support from those in 'business'. They are saying it should go ahead, and all hell with the conservation legislation. Aberdeenshire Council's infrastructures committee very bravely rejected the proposals last week, on the grounds of environmental concerns and issues with the scale of the housing development. Since then, those councillors who voted against the scheme have been blasted in the local press, and one was apparently assaulted outside her house on Friday as a result. The press have been absolutely disgraceful, printing a one-sided view of the issue, and suggestions have been made that money has changed hands behind the scenes. The upshot of it all is that an emergency meeting is to be held next week, as a result of the "overwhelming public outcry" about the infrastructure committee's decision. The aim is, apparently, to get the decision overturned. Interestingly, the local paper, the Press and Journal, ran a poll on its website that was mysteriously pulled when it showed a 60-40 split in favour of upholding the council's decision... Anyway, there is a petition on the Downing Street website to object to the scheme going ahead. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/trumpoff/ '