Patrick/Rich
I've said before on here, that no UK developer would have bothered looking at the scheme Trump came up with, and by that I'm referring to the whole bang shooting match of hotel, houses and courses on land that wasn't zoned for what is fair sized development never mind the trashing of a SSSI. What he proposed and what he subsequently got consent for was so far out the box in planning terms it was a straight forward refusal, no question. No UK developer would have spent the money making the application.
Looking at it in hindsight, if a UK developer had employed the same tactics as Trump and tried to bounce the local and national governments into granting consent the way Trump did, they would have been given short shrift. Why ? Because pretty well every major developer in the UK is run by professionals sitting behind a desk that no one has heard of. Thats not meant to be disparaging, they just do there job. Donald on the other hand is showbusiness, and the politicians love showbusiness.
Mark
Your post reminds me of a bit in MacKenzies book when he refers to Leeds and Harrogate members telling him before he built Aldwoodley that people in Leeds don't really like golf and that there wasn't room for a third club in Leeds. MacKenzie then goes on to boast of the ten courses he designed in the area. Scotland has plenty of scope for further golf development, its just there not going to be developed in the way they were 100 years ago.
Niall