Donald Trump pledges 'any legal means' fight against windfarm

US tycoon saying proposed offshire turbines will 'compromise' golf resort - and ruin his sea view

Donald Trump has pledged to use "any legal means" to block the building of an offshore windfarm near his championship golf course in Aberdeenshire, claiming the development would spoil his view.

The proposed windfarm in Aberdeen Bay, about 1.5 miles from the golf resort, would install the next generation of offshore wind turbine technology.

The £200m energy scheme has just been formally submitted to Marine Scotland for approval. It has been cut back from up to 33 turbines to a maximum of 11 after safety concerns were raised by shipping agencies and Aberdeen heliport, the world's busiest, which serves the North Sea oil industry.

Trump, who hopes to open his first course at the Menie estate, near Balmedie, next July, in a development spanning about 500 hectares (1,235 acres), has renewed his long-standing complaints about the project. He believes the smaller proposal is still unacceptable: some of the turbines could stand up to 195 metres in the water, more than double the height of the Big Ben clock tower.

George Sorial, managing director of the Trump Organisation, said the windfarm would compromise the golf resort. "We are here to stay and I don't think it's a good idea to interfere with our investment. We are not going to support a project that compromises what we have done. We will use any legal means in our jurisdiction."

David Milne, one of Trump's most critical neighbours, whose house at Hermit Point is next to the golf course now under construction, said the billionaire developer was turning into a "New York clown". Milne's view over the dunes and the North Sea has been blocked by Trump; a 6-metre (20ft) high earth wall came first, later replaced with a row of spruce and pine trees surrounding Milne's property.

"How can a man who has just destroyed a site of special scientific interest and is in the process of despoiling an area of outstanding natural beauty with his golf course, comment on the view? It's laughable," Milne said.

It remains highly unlikely that Trump's objections will succeed. The windfarm is supported by the European commission and the Scottish government, and is one of a number of test centres seen as essential if the UK is to reach its target of 7,000 offshore wind turbines, with an expected investment of £100bn.

Trump is also in conflict with several of his most prominent supporters over the windfarm scheme, known as the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. The EOWDC project involves Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group, a publicly-funded agency part controlled by Aberdeenshire council, which approved Trump's resort, as well as Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, which last year gave the American tycoon an honorary degree, and the Wood Group, founded by the oil services magnate Sir Ian Wood, a cheerleader for Trump's resort.

David Rodger, a spokesman for the wind project, said: "We have been in regular contact with the Trump Organisation and acknowledge the concern raised. We made a strong case for the environmental and economic benefits of the centre [for] global research and development for offshore wind ... [which] is of strategic importance to Aberdeen, and Scotland's renewable energy ambitions."
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About this articleClose Donald Trump pledges 'any legal means' fight against windfarmThis article was published on guardian.co.uk at 16.52 BST on Friday 5 August 2011. A version appeared in the Guardian on Saturday 6 August 2011. It was last modified at 17.26 BST on Friday 5 August 2011.