Donald Trump’s contentious plans to transform a wild and windswept stretch of the Aberdeenshire coastline into an exclusive £1 billion golf resort have been approved by the Scottish government.

Mr Trump, the New York-based billionaire businessman, said he was “deeply honoured” by the decision, which follows a local planning inquiry.

However, the SNP administration was condemned immediately for its “wanton vandalism” of an unspoilt natural habitat by environmentalists, who claim that the planning approval makes a mockery of the government’s green agenda.

Detailed proposals will be drawn up over the next few months, before the construction of more than 1,000 homes and holiday apartments, a 450-bedroom Gothic-style hotel and two golf courses. Neil Hobday, the development’s director, said he hoped “the first [golf] shots will be hit in spring 2011”.

Alex Salmond, the First Minister, welcomed the decision to back the project – which was made by his Finance Secretary, John Swinney – after a public inquiry. Mr Salmond, who is the local MSP for Buchan, insisted that the scheme would create 6,000 jobs – including 1,400 permanent positions.

“In tough economic times, substantial investment of this kind is at a premium,” he said. Once completed, the resort is expected to generate an extra £64 million in Aberdeenshire annually.

The First Minister’s view is no doubt shared by many of his constituents and by local business leaders, but was bitterly opposed by Martin Ford, the former chairman of Aberdeenshire Council’s planning committee, which blocked Mr Trump’s application initially.

“A billionaire’s vanity project has been put ahead of a Site of Special Scientific Interest. There will be widespread suspicion that nobody else would get this permission, because it breaches so many sound principles of good planning.

“The decision to build a golf course on an SSSI amounts to wanton vandalism. It is gratuitous, because at the inquiry it was demonstrated that it was possible to accommodate the golf course on the estate without using the SSSI,” said Mr Ford, a Liberal Democrat councillor.

Mr Trump’s proposals for his 2,000-acre Menie estate have also faced fierce opposition from two powerful lobbying organisations, the RSPB and the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Both expressed outrage at the government’s decision.

“The crazy thing is that there could easily have been both golf and environmental protection at Menie,” said Jonny Hughes, head of policy at the Scottish Wildlife Trust. “Instead, government ministers have failed to deliver the sustainable part of their professed central purpose of ‘sustainable economic growth’.

“This decision will mean needless destruction to a unique and nationally important site,” he added.

The RSPB commissioned a golf course architect to design a layout that incorporated the SSSI within the development. However, Mr Trump ignored this advice, said Aedan Smith, head of planning and development at RSPB Scotland.

“It appears that the desires of one high-profile overseas developer, who refused to compromise one inch, have been allowed to override the legal protection of this important site, and we fear this sets a precedent which will undermine the whole protected sites network in Scotland.”

For Mr Salmond, however, the natural beauty of the area was understandably an integral part of its attractiveness to Mr Trump. “It is entirely right and proper that the resources of the country are harnessed to boost one of our great industries – and tourism is a great Scottish industry,” he said.

In granting the application Mr Swinney said that the Trump Organisation would have to ensure that sand dunes and wildlife on the Menie estate were properly protected.

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