Aberdeenshire disgrace

In the face of a sustained and occasionally vituperative campaign in the local press, Aberdeenshire planning committee turned down an application from US billionaire Donald Trump to build a golf course which would have altered the character of a section of the coast and affected a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Now the forces behind the development have taken their revenge, the main victim being the Liberal Democrat chairman of the planning committee. Liberal Democrats Iain Dale and Bernald Salmon, in their blogs, tell the story better than I can.

If the Scottish Nationalist government has its way, yet another blow against localism will have been struck and the day when local councillors become no more than paid rubber stamps (see also Peter Black's comments on Councillors Unlimited) comes ever closer.

Frank Little