Golf course proposal
Conservation groups join forces to protect dunes
An objection raised by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) could be a major setback for plans to build a golf course on an undeveloped stretch of wildlife-rich dunes on the north-east Scottish coast.
The objection comes after months of campaigning against the scheme by an alliance of six UK conservation groups and local campaigners.
The site, at Coul Links, beside the Loch Fleet National Nature Reserve in Sutherland, has international importance for its wildlife.
One species at threat from the planned 22ha course, say campaigners, is the tiny Fonseca’s seed fly, found nowhere else in the world but a stretch of coast in, and near, Coul Links. Rich in orchids, other flowers, mosses and lichens, the Coul sands are also home to Britain’s second-largest colony of dune-dwelling juniper.
Proposals submitted by US entrepreneurs Mike Keiser and Todd Warnock will be considered by The Highland Council in January. Coul Links will be “environmentally enhanced, not degraded” as a result of the project, the developers claim.
The landowner Edward Abel Smith says the course promoters view it “as the best use environmentally and economically for this beautiful site.”
The Scottish Wildlife Trust, one of the groups opposing the scheme, refutes this. “The golf course threatens to damage or destroy the very features that have led to the site being given some of the strongest conservation designations that are possible,” says chief executive, Jonny Hughes. “If it is allowed to go ahead, you would have to ask: what’s the point of protected areas?”
SNH’s objection could lead to a public inquiry, should The Highland Council approve the scheme. Meanwhile, SNH is reviewing information about environmental changes at another Scottish coastal dune site since the building of the Trump International Golf Links there a decade ago, which could lead to the area losing its status as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.