In a statement, the [Aberdeenshire] council's chief executive Alan Campbell said he had conducted two phone calls with the [Scottish Executive] chief planner on the afternoon of 4 December.
"The first call was about the procedure which Aberdeenshire Council were likely to adopt at their special meeting. It was in that context that the chief executive was informed by the chief planner that members of the Trump organisation were in the chief planner's room.
"The chief executive asked that they leave the room. The discussion then took place."
How can the Executive be seen to maintain its impartiality in respect of the planning application when at such a crucial juncture the chief planner entertains the Trump organisation in his room? Taken with the First Minister's meeting the previous day with the Trump representatives, I would have thought that the Executive's position must be wide open to judicial review. And the RSPB is astute enough and has sufficiently deep pockets to pursue the matter.
The mystery is how such astute operators as Mr Salmond and Mr Mackinnon (the chief planner) have allowed themselves to be entangled in this mess.
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