DONALD Trump last night rejected an alternative golf course design that environmental groups claimed would allow him to go ahead with his project without destroying the protected dune system at the Menie Estate.
RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) revealed they had commissioned Mike Wood, a respected golf course architect, to come up with a new plan for the Aberdeenshire resort.
They claimed the alternative showed Mr Trump could have a "c
hampionship level" course at Menie without damaging the vulnerable sand-dunes on the Foveran site of special scientific interest (SSSI) – the focus of the environmental objections to the £1 billion golf resort and housing development.
Mr Wood's design is to be formally submitted this week to the public inquiry into the Trump International Golf Links development as a potential way forward.
Anne McCall, the head of planning at RSPB Scotland, said: "The developers continually claimed they could not change the course design, but have said they might do so to take account of environmental destruction. Rather than the minor tweak that their new indicative plans would mean, we hope they will now agree with us that it's entirely possible for them to have a top golf course without building on the SSSI in the north or the sensitive dunes to the south."
Mr Wood, who chairs the environment committee of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects, said: "I believe there is ample room on this site to accommodate a golf course designed to the highest modern standards without using the valuable mobile dunes."
But George Sorial, the Trump executive in charge of the Menie development, said: "We sincerely appreciate the RSPB's efforts at golf course design, but on initial examination, the layout would not constitute a links course and is certainly not a championship course."
