Rebel MSP Ewing throws weight behind controversial Coul Links golf course plans
SNP MSP Fergus Ewing is part of a cross-party group of politicians urging the Scottish Government to give the green light to controversial plans to build a golf course on protected land in the Highlands.
Mr Ewing, a former rural affairs secretary in the Scottish Government, insisted plans for a course at Coul Links, to the north of Dornoch, Sutherland, were of "national economic significance" and would "transform" prospects for the local area.
He has now joined together with Liberal Democrat MSP Jamie Stone, Labour MSP Rhoda Grant and Conservative MSPS Edward Mountain and Jamie Halcro Johnston to urge the Scottish Government to allow the development to proceed.
The action comes in the wake of the decision by the government to call in the planning application for the course, giving ministers the final say on whether or not it goes ahead. The Scottish Government previously refused permission for a golf course on the land, which is part of a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), in 2020.
But the Highland politicians argued the only way to “save Coul Links” is to allow the project to go ahead.
Communities for Coul, the group behind the proposed golf course, has said the area has become “so degraded that it needs the very best in 21st century conservation to restore and protect it”. Having the golf course on “about 0.1 per cent” of the SSSI would generate enough cash to restore and protect the whole area, it has argued. Mr Ewing, who has previously challenged the Scottish Government over issues including marine protection areas, said: “The community driven plan will restore the dunes to their former glory.
“It has been supported by the local council and will transform the prospects for this part of the Highlands. It's of national economic significance."
While some conservation groups, including RSPB Scotland and Plantlife Scotland have opposed the project, Mr Ewing said that if ministers fail to back the project, “the precious environment, already in an unfavourable condition according to Naturescot, will degrade even further”.
5 cross-party MSPS backing the plan