News / Trump not allowed to gatecrash Viking case
AMERICAN tycoon Donald Trump will not be allowed to intervene in a legal argument between the Scottish government and Sustainable Shetland over the £750 million Viking Energy wind farm.
Bids by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) as well as two large commercial wind farm developers to enter the Shetland case were also turned down by the Court of Session on Tuesday.
Sustainable Shetland has always said that Trump’s aims were at odds with the group’s interests.
Trump has already gone to court to challenge plans for an offshore wind farm in Aberdeen Bay about two kilometres from his luxury resort and golf course at Balmedie.
On Tuesday, his lawyers said he was also prepared to become involved in the Viking Energy appeal brought by Scottish ministers after Lady Clark of Calton ruled in favour of Sustainable Shetland.
The group can only afford to argue one of the two issues on which Lady Clark ruled, that the government had failed to give due consideration to the European wild birds directive concerning the impact Viking would have on the whimbrel, a rare wading bird.
Gordon Steele QC, for the Trump organisations, said they had become aware that the group was unable to argue the competency point in their appeal.
He said it was right that a matter of such importance should proceed without another party providing contradictory arguments.
In September, Lady Clark had also ruled that the Viking Energy application for planning consent had been incompetent because the developer did not have an electricity generating licence.
The ruling is seen as having wide reaching consequences north and south of the border as dozens of wind farms didn’t have a generation licence when planning consent was granted.
But rejecting the tycoon’s bid Lord Justice Clerk Lord Carloway said: “The Trump organisation and its related companies are already involved in a litigation where they can seek the remedy which they wish to achieve.”
The judge said if their judicial review challenge over the Northeast offshore wind farm, where a decision is awaited, goes against them it would be open to them to return to the civil appeal court.
The court has now appointed an independent QC to provide advice on the issue.
Lord Carloway, sitting with Lady Smith and Lady Dorrian, also rejected applications by utilities EDF and RWE to become involved in the case.
They further refused a move by the RSPB to become involved over the interpretation of the 2009 Wild Birds Directive.
The appeal will be heard in late February/early March 2014.
Dave Finlay
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