Not a member?
Register and login now.

Issue 42 - In brief...

Scotland Magazine Issue 42

Scotland Magazine Issue 42
December 2008

 

This article is 3 years old and some information provided may be time sensitive. Please check all details of events, tours, opening times and other information before travelling or making arrangements.

Copyright Scotland Magazine © 1999-2012. All rights reserved. To use or reproduce part or all of this article please contact us for details of how you can do so legally.

In brief...

In brief... (Issue 42)

Plans by US entrepeneur Donald Trump to build a luxury golf resort in the Highlands have been given the green light.

Despite the strenuous objections of environmental groups, the Scottish Government has granted outline planning permission for the application by the organisation headed by Trump to develop a golf resort at Balconies, Aberdeenshire.

The proposal (estimated to cost around a billion pounds) involves the development of a golf resort, including two 18-hole golf courses with associated clubhouse, practice area and driving range, together with a 450-bedroom hotel with conference centre and spa, 950 holiday apartments in four blocks, 36 golf villas, 500 houses for sale, accommodation for 400 staff and new access onto the A90 trunk road.

The ambitious plans will see a huge boost to the economy through new jobs, housing and tourism, but the plans have faced strong criticsm for encroaching on protected sand dunes and a site of special scientific interest.

A £1 million grant from the National Lottery will help to create a new forest in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. Billed as the largest native broadleaf woodland in Scotland it will cover an area equivalent to the city of Glasgow. It will transform an area centred on Loch Katrine, into a forest landscape.

The famous Cunard liner QE2 has left Scotland's shores for the final time as she sails off to become a floating hotel in Dubai.

The 70,000 tonne ship was launched at John Brown's shipyard on the r...

 

To read the rest of this article you can do any of the following.

Subscribe to Scotland Magazine. Subscribers have full access to all articles online for as long as they are a subscriber.
Activate your online subscription here.

Buy this issue of Scotland Magazine from our online store.

Unlock this article. Register as a member and you can unlock 25 articles for free. Already a member? Login now and read this article in full.