Lawyers acting for Donald Trump are due at the highest civil court in the land today as they attempt to overthrow the decision to allow an offshore windfarm within sight of his north-east golf links.
The judicial review is scheduled to begin this morning at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
Mr Trump’s senior team have flown in from New York as the US billionaire’s legal fight against the Scottish Government begins.
The Trump Organisation and Trump International Golf Club Scotland have hired Edinburgh law firm Dundas and Wilson for the challenge, which is scheduled to be heard over the next four days.
It is the latest chapter in the long-running and bitter row over the £230million European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre, which would involve 11 turbines just over a mile from the coastline at Blackdog.
Donald Trump jun – the entrepreneur’s son – and George Sorial, the Trump organisation’s executive vice-president in New York, will attend the hearing.
A spokeswoman for the Trump Organisation last night said: “Senior members of the New York executive team arrived in Edinburgh today and are currently working with our legal representatives in preparation for the judicial review.”
Vattenfall, the EOWDC scheme’s major shareholder, and fellow investor Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group will have their own legal representation.
Mr Trump’s team will seek to convince the court that the decision not to hold a public inquiry in-to the proposals and the Scottish Government’ssubsequent approval of the wind-energy scheme in Aberdeen Bay in March were unlawful, and that both moves should be reversed.
The court battle follows a public row between Mr Trump and First Minister Alex Salmond, who was accused by the American of being “hell bent” on destroying Scotland with windfarms.
Mr Salmond said Mr Trump’s investment did not give him ownership of Scotland and did not allow him to dictate energy policy.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government last night said she could not comment directly on the case. Lang Banks, director at conservation group WWF Scotland, said: “It would be a great pity if Donald Trump was in any way responsible for frustrating Scotland’s ambition to generate clean power and green jobs.”
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