Post by LARRY on Oct 11, 2007 10:05:10 GMT -5
IT'S GREAT TO SEE A LITTLE MAN, STAND UP TO A GIANT AND TELL HIM WHERE TO GO WITH HIS $$$$$$$$$
Scots fight Donald Trump's proposed golf course
BY ELLEN TUMPOSKY in London and PAMELA OWEN in Balmedie, Scotland SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
Thursday, October 11th 2007, 4:00 AM
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The Donald visiting the proposed site of his latest development. 'I believe environmentally, when we are finished, the course will be better environmentally than before we started,' he said.
A salty Scottish fisherman refusing to sell his family farm to Donald Trump is knocking the developer's plan to build a $2 billion golf resort off kilter.
Defiant Michael Forbes has told The Donald to take his money and shove it, winning admiration from his seaside neighbors who have dubbed him a real-life "Local Hero."
"He can go back to his own country and bother someone else," said Forbes, a balding and burly 55-year-old, who also works in a quarry.
Trump, who's used to getting his way, isn't willing to cut and run and has declared war on the third-generation angler.
The billionaire flew to Scotland this week on his private jet and publicly big-footed Forbes, calling the working-class champ's farm "disgusting."
Trump pointed out the fleet of rusting tractors and oil cans littering Forbes' 23-acre spread on the coast of Aberdeenshire, and accused the brash opponent of being crafty.
"Take a look at how badly maintained the piece of property is," Trump said of Forbes' farm. "I actually asked him: 'Are you doing this on purpose to try and make it look bad, so I have to pay some more money?'"
Trump, whose mother, Mary MacLeod, came from Scotland, has offered Forbes $900,000 for his land, which sits smack dab in the middle of his twin 18-hole golf course development.
The tycoon's ramrod approach seems to have only solidified Forbes' position as David standing up to Goliath.
"It will never ever be sold to someone like Donald Trump. Not in my lifetime," Forbes told the Daily News yesterday.
He insisted his resistance was not about getting a higher price, but about his allegiance to his land.
"My grandfather fished here, my father fished here and my uncles fished here," he said standing beside his weather-beaten farmhouse. "I'm not going anywhere."
Forbes' bold opposition to a celebrity real-estate mogul has won him comparisons to the hermit who refuses to sell his beach shack to an American oil company in the 1983 Burt Lancster film "Local Hero."
Forbes said he's just following his heart.
"To me, you can't put a price on it," Forbes said. "I just won't sell and he knows that."
Forbes' 83-year-old mother, Molly, who lives in a trailer next to her son's farmhouse, said she's proud her boy is not budging.
She called Trump's development plans — which include a 450-room hotel, and 1,450 vacation and private homes — "an ugly monster."
"I came here to live in peace," Molly Forbes said.
George Sorial, Trump's managing director for international development, accused Forbes of being disingenuous. Sorial told The News that Forbes has asked for $2 million for his land.
"He got greedy," Sorial said.
Trump has resorted to playing hardball to get his way, barring Forbes from an access road he uses to take his fishing nets to the water.
"Of course I feel threatened by him," said Forbes, adding that he recently received a visit from the local health inspector.
Forbes is likely to win some admirers in the States. Among them, SoHo residents fighting a Trump high-rise, and Palos Verdes, Calif., bungalow owners upset his golf course's tall trees block their views.
The fisherman said he welcomes the support.
"I don't have the money to fight him," he said of Trump, "but I'm trying my best."
Scots fight Donald Trump's proposed golf course
BY ELLEN TUMPOSKY in London and PAMELA OWEN in Balmedie, Scotland SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
Thursday, October 11th 2007, 4:00 AM
*********************************************
The Donald visiting the proposed site of his latest development. 'I believe environmentally, when we are finished, the course will be better environmentally than before we started,' he said.
A salty Scottish fisherman refusing to sell his family farm to Donald Trump is knocking the developer's plan to build a $2 billion golf resort off kilter.
Defiant Michael Forbes has told The Donald to take his money and shove it, winning admiration from his seaside neighbors who have dubbed him a real-life "Local Hero."
"He can go back to his own country and bother someone else," said Forbes, a balding and burly 55-year-old, who also works in a quarry.
Trump, who's used to getting his way, isn't willing to cut and run and has declared war on the third-generation angler.
The billionaire flew to Scotland this week on his private jet and publicly big-footed Forbes, calling the working-class champ's farm "disgusting."
Trump pointed out the fleet of rusting tractors and oil cans littering Forbes' 23-acre spread on the coast of Aberdeenshire, and accused the brash opponent of being crafty.
"Take a look at how badly maintained the piece of property is," Trump said of Forbes' farm. "I actually asked him: 'Are you doing this on purpose to try and make it look bad, so I have to pay some more money?'"
Trump, whose mother, Mary MacLeod, came from Scotland, has offered Forbes $900,000 for his land, which sits smack dab in the middle of his twin 18-hole golf course development.
The tycoon's ramrod approach seems to have only solidified Forbes' position as David standing up to Goliath.
"It will never ever be sold to someone like Donald Trump. Not in my lifetime," Forbes told the Daily News yesterday.
He insisted his resistance was not about getting a higher price, but about his allegiance to his land.
"My grandfather fished here, my father fished here and my uncles fished here," he said standing beside his weather-beaten farmhouse. "I'm not going anywhere."
Forbes' bold opposition to a celebrity real-estate mogul has won him comparisons to the hermit who refuses to sell his beach shack to an American oil company in the 1983 Burt Lancster film "Local Hero."
Forbes said he's just following his heart.
"To me, you can't put a price on it," Forbes said. "I just won't sell and he knows that."
Forbes' 83-year-old mother, Molly, who lives in a trailer next to her son's farmhouse, said she's proud her boy is not budging.
She called Trump's development plans — which include a 450-room hotel, and 1,450 vacation and private homes — "an ugly monster."
"I came here to live in peace," Molly Forbes said.
George Sorial, Trump's managing director for international development, accused Forbes of being disingenuous. Sorial told The News that Forbes has asked for $2 million for his land.
"He got greedy," Sorial said.
Trump has resorted to playing hardball to get his way, barring Forbes from an access road he uses to take his fishing nets to the water.
"Of course I feel threatened by him," said Forbes, adding that he recently received a visit from the local health inspector.
Forbes is likely to win some admirers in the States. Among them, SoHo residents fighting a Trump high-rise, and Palos Verdes, Calif., bungalow owners upset his golf course's tall trees block their views.
The fisherman said he welcomes the support.
"I don't have the money to fight him," he said of Trump, "but I'm trying my best."
