Controversial dunes golf plan to get the go-ahead

● Campaigners call on ministers to stop destruction of ‘irreplaceable’ wildlife site

Plans to build a championship golf course on protected sand dunes on Scotland’s northeast coast are set to go ahead after planning permission was granted by Highland Council.

Environmentalists have criticised the decision, which they say could lead to the destruction of a globally important wildlife site.

They are now calling for Scottish ministers to step in and halt the development, which will affect a protected nature area at Coul Links, near Embo in Sutherland.

Wealthy American golf moguls Mike Keiser and Todd Warnock are behind the scheme, which includes an 18-hole course and clubhouse.

It is estimated the course will bring 250 jobs to the area and £60 million for the local economy in its first decade.

But part of the part of the site is within the Loch Fleet Site of Special Scientific Interest and the Dornoch Firth and Loch Fleet Special Protection Area, home to threatened species including wading birds, orchids and the ultra-rare Fonseca’s seed fly.

Now the council’s planning committee has approved the application, going against the recommendation of their own officials and a statutory objection from nature agency Scottish Natural Heritage.

Environmental groups campaigning to preserve the dunes claim the decision undermines the credibility of the planning process and insist the Scottish Government should act urgently to safeguard the site.

“The Scottish Government must now intervene to protect the site in the national interest,” said Stuart Brooks, head of natural heritage policy at National Trust for Scotland.

Scottish Wildlife Trust chief executive Jonny Hughes urged ministers to “do the right thing and step in to avoid irreparable damage to Scotland’s reputation for environmental leadership internationally”.

Aedán Smith, head of planning and development at RSPB Scotland, said: “This is their opportunity to prove that there is substance and meaning to their assurances that Scotland will continue to uphold and enforce its international nature conservation obligations.”

Craig Macadam, conservation director at Buglife, added: “Once these habitats and the species that live there are lost, there is no second chance.”

Scottish Greens MSP for the Highlands & Islands John Finnie has echoed the calls, likening the proposals to US president Donald Trump’s controversial golf resort at Menie in Aberdeenshire.

“This is a disappointing, but unsurprising decision by councillors, who are too easily swayed by flimsy promises of jobs, regardless of the cost to an irreplaceable wild landscape and the nature and tourism that it supports,” he said.

Many local businesses and golf clubs support the plans. 0 Happy trains will make their debut on Saturday