A unanimous ruling by the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court appears to be the final rejection of the argument that erecting 11 turbines 2.2 miles from the Trump International Golf Links near Aberdeen on Scotland’s east coast will ruin views and threaten the benefits that the resort can provide for the local economy.
Donald Trump has lost a bid in the United Kingdom’s top court to block a wind farm near his luxury golf course in Scotland, Bloomberg.com reports.
The Scottish government’s decision to approve the construction of 11 turbines about 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) from the Trump International Golf Links resort near Aberdeen on the east coast of Scotland was made properly, the U.K. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in London on December 16, Bloomberg.com reports.
Trump has clashed with Scottish lawmakers over the plans to generate more power from wind turbines, saying his golf courses bring more money to the local economy, Bloomberg.com reports. The project by Vattenfall AB, Technip SA and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group will have the capacity to power 68,000 homes, but Trump has argued that the turbines would ruin the view from his resort on the Menie estate.
“History will judge those involved unfavorably and the outcome demonstrates the foolish, small-minded and parochial mentality which dominates the current Scottish government’s dangerous experiment with wind energy,” the Trump Organization said in a statement issued after the decision. The statement added that Trump “will evaluate the court’s decision and continue to fight this proposal on every possible front.”
Trump’s appeals have failed in Scottish courts and now with Britain’s top panel, Bloomberg.com reports. The European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) was approved by Scottish ministers in March 2013, and the golf course developers filed an appeal that queried whether the national government had the right to approve the wind farm and whether a design statement was properly submitted. The Supreme Court rejected both of those arguments in its decision, Bloomberg.com reports.
“The EOWDC is an example of the type of development that could help to deliver significant and long-term economic benefits to the region and help to cement Aberdeen’s reputation as a global energy city,” the wind-farm developers said in a statement.
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