Bob Doris SNP MSP for Glasgow has commented after Glasgow City Councils debate today on a Liberal motion which attempted to cast further innuendo on the Trump Development in Aberdeenshire.  Mr Doris sits on the Local Government and Communities Committee which has been taking evidence on the application for over a month.

Commenting Mr Doris said: "Glasgow LibDem councillors should know better. To second guess the Trump Inquiry currently being held by the Local Government and Communities Committee is at best incompetent and at worst cynically inappropriate.

"Our Committee investigation into the planning process surrounding the Trump application is at a delicate stage. We are about to reach a conclusion yet Glasgow's LibDems wish to jump to judgement without any knowledge or evidence.
 

"The Glasgow LibDems appear oblivious to the fact that the LibDem-run council in Aberdeenshire welcomed the call in of the Trump Development by the Scottish Government and it was also welcomed by the Parliament's Economy, Energy and Tourism which is chaired by a Liberal Democrat MSP!

"My fellow Glasgow MSP, the LibDem Robert Brown, sits on the Committee and should really have advised his council colleagues better than this.

"It seems that a £1 billion investment into Scotland is welcome by Lib Dem Councillors in Aberdeenshire but not by their Glasgow colleagues.

"Given their behaviour I sincerely hope the Lib Dems in Glasgow never have the opportunity to chase inward investment away from our city.

Notes:

1. The Glasgow City Council LibDem Groups motion reads:
   "The Council believes that Scottish Ministers were wrong to call in the Trump planning application after the planning committee in Aberdeenshire Council had voted to reject it, because:
   
   i. the developer already had a right of appeal;
   ii. the Minister appears to have taken a partisan position on the application that he must now determine; and
   iii. their action has injected uncertainty into the whole Scottish planning system
   
   The Council accordingly resolves to submit a petition to the Scottish Parliament requesting it to enact legislation that will establish beyond doubt that the power conferred on Scottish Ministers by section 46 (1) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Ahct 1997 to give a direction requiring a particular planning application be referred to them instead of being dealt with by the planning authority does not give Ministers a power to call in an application after the date on which the planning authority actually decided whether the application should be granted or refused, regardless of the provisions in section 37 (4) of the act regarding the date on which the planning authority's decision bears to have been signed on behalf of the authority"
   
   
2. The SNP group amendment reads:
   "Council congratulates Scottish Ministers on calling in the Trump planning application. Normally planning applications should be decided locally but in exceptional cases it is appropriate for the Government to intervene. Such cases include major developments such as the Trump application which have a potential national impact. Council also notes that the vast majority of Aberdeenshire Councillors were in favour of the proposal but their standing orders prevented their involvement.
   
   Council further notes that the recent Planning (Scotland) Bill 2006 is still bedding in and recommends a period of reflection before rushed amendments to new legislation."