Officials cleared of misconduct in Trump case

Aberdeenshire council leader Anne Robertson was among those who were investigated by the Standards Commission for Scotland after the complaint.

The gripe was over five applications given outline planning consent in September last year by the Formartine Area Committee next to a golf development already given full planning permission. These additional land and properties were to be part of Donald Trump’s overall £1 billion leisure scheme, including two golf courses, a luxury hotel, and 500 homes.

The complainant said the planning committee members had not dealt with all the parties involved in the development process fairly and decisions had not been properly taken.

Councillors were accused of breaking their code of conduct by not publishing letters about the proposals on the council website or in the agenda for the meeting. The code places a duty on councils to ensure parties involved are dealt with fairly and decisions are taken properly.

But chief investigating officer Stuart Allan said: ‘The code does not specify the procedure to be adopted by decision-making committees and this will have developed by custom and practice having regard to planning legislation, central government guidance, and the regulatory framework laid down in council standing orders.

‘The content of representations submitted in relation to planning applications should be made available to the committee members, but there is no statutory requirement for the actual correspondence to be copied to all members individually or given wider publicity.’

The decision in each case was to grant the application in accordance with the planning officer’s recommendation based on detailed consideration of relevant policies and reasoning, he also stated, which took into account the material planning issues raised within the letters of representation.

An Aberdeenshire Council spokesperson confirmed the facts of the case.

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