Plans to develop a golf course at Coul Links in Scotland took another step forward last week after the Highland Council’s planning committee voted by eight to six to grant approval for the development of the controversial site, which is claimed to be home to one of the last remaining undeveloped dune systems in the country.
Developers Communities for Coul Limited (C4C) say that the 18-hole golf course could help safeguard a sustainable future for the area, as well as creating some 400 jobs and generating £11 million for the local economy each year.
C4C director Gordon Sutherland said: “We are absolutely delighted that councillors have voted in favour of our application after careful consideration of all the information presented to them. Our plans, which have had the backing of local people from the outset, offer a genuine chance to create much-needed new employment opportunities in an area where the working age population is falling, threating the future viability of fragile communities.”
The Coul Links site forms part of the Loch Fleet Site of Special Scientific Interest and the Dornoch Firth and Loch Fleet Special Protection Area. A number of organisations, including RSPB Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and NatureScot, have condemned the result of the planning vote and urged ministers to “call in” the application – which would see a review by the Scottish government before a final decision on whether to block the development.
Bruce Wilson, the head of policy at the Scottish Wildlife Trust, said: “Protected sites exist to not only help preserve extremely valuable places for nature and people, but also to signpost very clearly where it is not appropriate to place developments. In a nature and climate emergency, which the Highland Council themselves have declared, this does not represent a sustainable decision. We are once again in the position of asking Scottish Ministers to call this in.”
In 2020, the Scottish Government rejected plans to develop Coul Links, saying: “The Scottish Government has considered the reporter’s findings carefully and agree with the recommendation that planning permission should be refused. The likely detriment to natural heritage is not outweighed by the socio-economic benefits of the proposal.”
In response to the initial rejection, golf course architects Coore & Crenshaw created a revised plan for Coul Links that addresses the reasons the first application was refused. This includes a 90% reduction in the amount of the SSSI the golf course would use, a commitment to mow the fairways from the native grasses of the site, rather than seeding them, and a similar commitment to forgo fairway irrigation.
The government must now decide whether to accept the Highland Council’s decision or intervene once again.