Scottish fisherman Michael Forbes has a message on his property opposing Donald Trump’s proposed golf resort.
(David Moir/ Reuters)
EDINBURGH — Protesters opposed to Donald Trump’s planned $1.5 billion Scottish golf resort say they have pulled a trick shot out of their bag.
At the center of the plan is local fisherman Michael Forbes, who has long been an irritant to Trump. Forbes has refused the American tycoon’s offer of nearly $700,000 to buy his family’s 23-acre run-down farm, which sits at the center of the planned resort.
But Forbes has sold an acre of his land near Aberdeen to protesters who also disagree with Trump’s plans — a sale that will force the property tycoon to face down more than 60 people.
The group, Tripping Up Trump, says it bought the land and named it “The Bunker,’’ after the sand trap that many golfers end up in.
“We’ve called this piece of the land The Bunker because he will now find it impossible to force a sale as there will be so many names on it,’’ group spokesman Martin Glegg said yesterday. “This is the prime slot that Trump wants, and there is no way he can get it now.’’
Glegg said he hoped eventually to have hundreds of names on the deeds.
Trump, who flew to Scotland yesterday, said: “Forbes is someone who I would love to see clean up his property. It is a slum and a pigsty. His barn is rusty, rotten, and falling down.’’
The announcement of the acre sale came as Trump is putting the finishing touches to his plan for what he calls the “world’s greatest golf course.’’
He was given permission in 2008 to build the resort, which is to feature a five-star hotel, 1,200 homes, and two international-standard golf courses. Trump said the disputed land affects only the resort’s last phase.
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