Trump complained to Cameron in wind farm battle
Before his presidency, tycoon wrote to PM over turbines ‘blighting’ area near golf course in Scotland
HE WAS already being hotly tipped as a front-runner in the race to become the next US president. But, sitting in his office in May 2012, in the New York sky- scraper that bears his name, Donald Trump had more practical matters on his mind. In a letter which he dispatched by courier to No 10, he warned David Cameron that wind farms were “blighting” the landscape in Scotland, where he owns an 18-hole golf course.
Mr Trump, who was publicly battling the construction of 11 turbines near the course, close to Aberdeen, had already made his views known to Alex Salmond, the then Scottish first minister, but his concerns appeared to have fallen on deaf ears. So he had decided
Great balls of fire
to take up his grievances with the prime minister. Mr Salmond was, the billionaire complained, “hell-bent on destroying Scotland’s pristine environment” with his encouragement of wind farm developments.
Residents “don’t want thousands more of these ‘made in China’ turbines built all around Scotland’ – and they are tired of paying higher taxes to fund these ‘monstrosities’,” he wrote.
His firm letter, which came amid a fierce debate in the Conservative Party over the impact of wind farms on the landscape, ended by telling Mr Cameron, who was two years into his premiership, to “keep up the great work”.
It was followed by another the next year, enclosing an article setting out his own criticism of wind farms.
The correspondence, obtained by The Sunday Telegraph under the Freedom of Information Act, echoed concerns being aired by campaigners and scores of Tory MPs at the time.
They feared that a drive to reduce Britain’s reliance on traditional sources of power was leading the Government to embrace an unsightly form of energy generation that relied on generous consumer subsidies.
The following month, ministers pledged that the subsidies would “disappear” by 2020. Onshore wind farm developers are now excluded for bidding from a £557million pot of subsidies that will be available to offshore projects for next year.
In a private letter on May 9 2012, addressed to “Prime Minister Cameron”, Mr Trump, said: “As you have probably heard I, and many other well respect members of Scotland’s tourism sector, are strongly opposed to the proliferation of the ugly, inefficient and very costly wind turbine projects that will soon litter Scotland.”
Responding to Mr Trump in a letter addressed “Dear Donald”, Mr Cameron said: “I understand your point of view”.
He defended the construction of wind farms against the “unprecedented energy challenge” faced by Britain, but said the government had a “long-term goal” to remove subsidies for all forms of renewable energy generation.