The closing date for comments on the damaging proposal for a golf course at Coul Links is today. If you share our concerns for this special wild place please submit an objection to Highland Council by 5pm.
Coul Links in East Sutherland is a beautiful, wild stretch of coastline. It is is one of the few dune systems of its kind left in Scotland and provides a home for a rich range of willdife.
It’s importance is reflected by a number of designations. Coul Links forms the southern half of the Loch Fleet Site of Special Scientific Interest. and is also within the Dornoch and Loch Fleet Special Protection Area. It is also designated under the Birds Directive as a Ramsar site.
Why object?
The habitats and wildlife that make Coul Links special would be adversely affected by the proposed development. Coul Links is an important location which is designated as a Ramsar site, a Special Protection Area and a site of Special Scientific Interest. Many of the habitats found here are already under pressure from global threats such as climate change.
The proposals will have a significant negative effect on a unique sand dune habitat, a rare species of fly found only in East Sutherland, nowhere else in the world, and several other rare species. We also believe that unrealistic claims have been made about how wildlife will benefit or be protected.
What have others said?
If consent is given for this development it will destroy the integrity of rare dune habitats and lead to irreversible biodiversity loss.
Dr Kathy MacKinnon
Chair, IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas
More than 1,000 objections have been sent to the Highland Council by members of the public and by organisations.
Government agencies Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency have both submitted strong objections to the proposal.
Serious concerns have also been raised by organisations including the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas,National Trust for Scotland, Ramblers Scotland, Botanical Society Of Britain And Ireland, RSPB Scotland, Buglife, Plantlife Scotland, and the Marine Conservation Society, North East Mountain Trust and Tain & District Field Club,
Add your own response to the proposal by 5pm on Friday 22 December.