Plans include 400 staff homes, an eight-story hotel, 36 luxury golf villas--with as many as eight bedrooms--and four eight-story blocks of 950 holiday homes, to be sold as timeshare or fractional ownership. Visitors will have the choice of one of two links courses.

Trump has made clear his hopes that one day the venue will host the Ryder Cup and the Open Championship. A statement by Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Forum welcomed the Trump proposals as big, bold, and radical. They support the plans because they believe it will turn the area into a unique destination able to attract business and leisure visitors and become a world-class strategic location.

Ashley Cooper, the vice-president for golf developments in the Trump Organization, told a press conference the tycoon would look elsewhere if planning obstacles proved insurmountable. The proposals are expected to run into opposition from environmental groups concerned about the impact of a development of this size on an area important for wildlife and geology.