Ministers bin controversial plans for golf course on Highland coast

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Highland Council had green-lit plans for an 18-hole course at Coul Links near Dornoch, north of Inverness, back in 2023, despite it being part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest, but ministers later called in the decision amid opposition from wildlife charities and a 4,500-strong petition.

Welcoming the ministers’ decision, Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Jo Pike thanked the “thousands of people who spoke up for nature at Coul Links,” while RSPB Scotland’s Duncan Orr-Ewing said: “We hope developers will now realise that this type of damaging proposal, that goes against planning policy and harms protected sites, will not be accepted.”

Highlands and Islands Green MSP Ariane Burgess added: “Building a golf course on it would have been deeply damaging and completely at odds with Scotland’s commitments to protect nature.

“We can’t keep destroying our natural world in the name of profit.”

A disappointed Communities for Coul director Gordon Sutherland said: “We do not envisage that this opportunity will present itself again.”