MSc student Martin Glegg is involved in a grassroots campaign near Aberdeen. From another member of the campaign, Jenny Smith: Last year the property tycoon Donald Trump, over-riding environmental planning laws and the Local Housing and Structure Plans, managed to gain outline planning permission for a golf course on the sand dunes at the Menie Estate, Balmedie, just north of Aberdeen. The plans include a 10-story, 450-room hotel visible from Aberdeen, a conference centre, 500 luxury homes, and a 400-bed hostel for workers - effectively a gated community for the wealthy, surrounded by a wooden palisade fence.

To resist enclosure and protect local culture and biodiversity, a campaign group was formed - "Tripping up Trump" - which now has over 1,000 members. Their website, www.trippinguptrump.com, includes a petition with the support of over 6,000 people, and the group is seeking as much support as possible in advance of a council debate on 1st October.

Recently, the issue has gained new urgency. Failing to convince a few remaining locals and property owners to sell their houses, Trump has applied to Aberdeenshire Council to implement a compulsory purchase order for each property. To date, Compulsory Purchase has only ever been used for the requirements of infrastructure, motorways, hospitals, etc. If this order goes ahead, a precedent will be set across the country whereby people can be cleared from their homes for economic motive - a sort of latter-day "clearances" akin to the highland clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries.