Man who vetoed 'Trumptown' loses his job

THE man who used his casting vote to reject Donald Trump's plans for a £1 billion golf resort was sacked from his post yesterday - after being told he had acted with dignity and integrity.

Martin Ford was dumped as chairman of Aberdeenshire Council's infrastructure services committee (ISC), which last month turned down the Trump proposals on his casting vote. Mr Ford said the decision to axe him sent out the "wrong message" about the integrity of the planning system.

Before yesterday's special meeting of the full council, placard-waving opponents of the plans protested outside the council building.

And after the vote - when some 26 councillors voted for Mr Ford's removal, with ten backing him and 29 abstaining - one protester in the public benches shouted: "Shame on you."

The full council gave its backing to the controversial application, which will now be determined by the Scottish Government after it was "called in".

The authority also agreed to change its procedures so that large-scale plans of regional or national importance will, in future, be decided by the full council, not a committee.

The Trump organisation's plans for two championship golf courses and 1,500 homes at the Menie Estate, near Balmedie, had been approved 7-4 by the council's Formartine area planning committee on 20 November. But the matter then went to the ISC on 29 November and, after a 7-7 tie, Mr Ford used his casting vote to veto the application.

While the decision was hailed by environmental groups, who said the project would harm the sensitive sand dunes at Balmedie, there was a huge political and commercial backlash, with claims the council had lost a golden economic opportunity.

On 4 December, the Scottish Government called in the application and the decision now rests with John Swinney, the finance secretary, with the council only an "enhanced consultee".

The plan will be decided by written submissions, a public hearing or public inquiry, although the council wants a "hybrid" process of written evidence and hearings on contentious issues, to save the time and expense of a full-blown inquiry.

Yesterday it emerged more than 14,000 people have signed a petition on the Downing Street website to urge Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, to support Trump's proposals.

But 14 of Scotland's leading environmental groups, including the Scottish Wildlife Trust and RSPB Scotland, yesterday sent a joint letter to Mr Swinney insisting a public inquiry makes the final decision, not politicians.

After yesterday's meeting agreed to tell the government the council supported the scheme, John Cox, an independent councillor, proposed removing Mr Ford, a Liberal Democrat, as ISC chairman. He said the decision to reject the Trump plan had "ruined years of hard work and made the council look incompetent".

Joanna Strathdee, an SNP councillor, said she had the "utmost respect" for Mr Ford, but added: "This motion is about whether the present chair of ISC can positively represent the policies of this council."

But Debra Storr, a Lib Dem councillor who backs Mr Ford and was assaulted at her home after the plan was rejected, said: "I didn't think I would ever see the day when a colleague would propose the removal of a chair of a committee for doing his job the way we are all expected to. When you have a councillor who has behaved with dignity and integrity faced with a motion to remove him, that is a disgrace."

Mr Ford said he had acted properly and in accordance with normal constitutional practice.

He said the council's actions raised fundamental issues about credibility. "If a media campaign or an applicant who does not like the results puts enough pressure on the chair of the planning committee, the chair will cease to be the chair of the committee," he said. "How can councillors] in future prepare to take tough decisions if this is what they can expect when they do something right, in line with council policy? This threatens our democracy."

• Alex Salmond's meeting with Trump representatives the day before ministers intervened in the planning application could leave the proposals open to lengthy delays, it was claimed yesterday. Labour's Jackie Baillie said his actions could see a legal challenge which would hold up the process and insisted Mr Salmond address Parliament on the issue.

IT'S NOT PERSONAL, JUST BUSINESS, SAY COLLEAGUES ON COUNCIL

MARTIN Ford found himself in the unusual position yesterday of being praised for doing his job properly, yet finding himself removed from his post.

Since casting the vital vote which effectively threw out Donald Trump's proposal to build the "greatest golf course in the world" near Balmedie beach, the councillor has been publicly vilified for threatening to let a major economic opportunity slip through the area's hands.

One leading businessman called him and fellow councillors who rejected the plan "traitors", while the council moved to reverse the decision before it was called in by the government.

Yesterday majority opinion pushed Mr Ford out of his post as chairman of the infrastructure services committee. His colleagues all praised his integrity. It was not about his actions on the committee, they said. He acted properly and according to council policies and practices. It was about the future of the region and the need to diversify the economy and give out the message the area was open for business.

Anne Robertson, leader of the council, said: "It was not about any individual, or any part of the process or procedure. We all agree his integrity and principles are intact.

"It's absolutely about the future of Aberdeenshire Council and how they deliver the vision that they have signed up to."

Even George Sorial, Mr Trump's right-hand man, said: "We take no delight in what's happened to Councillor Ford and we wish him the best."

Mr Ford did not fail to see the irony of his situation: "Naturally I'm disappointed at the outcome. There was no suggestion of any slur on me or that I did anything improper. It does, then, seem perverse that I have to be removed."

As chairman of a leading committee on the council, he received £27,041 in allowances, but a return to a regular councillor will mean he gets the standard allowance of £15,452.