Coul Links Golf Course Rejected: Can Rural Scotland Afford to Lose an Economic Opportunity?

23rd October 2026

Scottish Government puts environmental protection ahead of promised jobs and tourism investment near Dornoch.

The Scottish Government has rejected plans for a new championship golf course at Coul Links, near Embo and Dornoch, bringing another chapter to a long-running dispute over the future of one of Sutherland's most environmentally sensitive coastal areas.

The decision, announced on 21 October, overturns Highland Council's approval of the revised proposal in December 2023. Ministers concluded that the development would cause significant harm to nationally and internationally important habitats and wildlife, and that its economic benefits did not justify the environmental damage.

For supporters of the scheme, it is a serious setback for an area that needs investment and employment. For conservation organisations, it is a victory for nature and a recognition that some places should remain protected from development.

The dispute raises a wider question for the Highlands: how can rural communities attract investment and create jobs without damaging the natural environment on which much of their tourism industry depends?

A major investment opportunity lost?

The Communities for Coul group proposed an 18-hole golf course, alongside a practice area, clubhouse, professional shop and associated facilities. The development was promoted as a world-class golfing destination that could attract international visitors and generate employment in East Sutherland.

Supporters argued that the project would provide a substantial boost to the local economy, creating permanent and seasonal jobs while bringing additional spending to hotels, restaurants, shops and other businesses.

The developers also maintained that the income generated by the course could help fund the restoration and long-term management of the wider Coul Links site.

Communities for Coul director Gordon Sutherland described the refusal as a major blow, arguing that the project offered an opportunity to create lasting economic benefits in an area facing the continuing loss of working-age people.

The landowner, Edward Abel Smith, also expressed his disappointment, saying the golf course could have been transformational for the area.

Those concerns deserve consideration. Rural communities cannot sustain themselves on scenery alone. They need employment, business opportunities and reasons for younger people to remain in the area.

However, the promised economic benefits were forecasts rather than guaranteed outcomes. The number and quality of jobs, the amount of additional visitor spending and the wider benefits to local businesses would ultimately have depended on how successfully the development operated.

Why the Government said no

Coul Links is not an ordinary development site. Its sand dunes and associated habitats form part of an area protected for its ecological importance, including its relationship with the Dornoch Firth and Loch Fleet protected wetland environment.

Government-appointed planning reporters concluded that the proposed development would cause significant damage to important habitats, including dune heath, and would adversely affect wintering birds. They also raised concerns about the fragmentation of habitats that would remain after construction.

The assessment found that the range and quality of habitats at Coul Links were exceptional, even by the standards of a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The environmental concerns were not limited to the physical area occupied by greens and fairways. Building and operating a golf course can alter the surrounding landscape and affect wildlife through habitat loss, disturbance and changes to ecological connections.

NatureScot opposed the proposal, while RSPB Scotland and other conservation organisations argued that the potential damage to protected habitats and species had not been adequately addressed.

The decision follows an earlier refusal in 2020 of a previous golf course proposal at the same site. The revised plans subsequently received Highland Council approval, but Scottish ministers called in the application for further scrutiny before reaching their decision.

The planning reporters concluded that the environmental harm could not be justified by the projected economic gains. Ministers ultimately accepted that recommendation.

A question of local democracy

One of the most contentious aspects is the relationship between local decision-making and national planning policy.

Highland councillors voted eight to six in favour of the revised scheme in December 2023. Scottish ministers have now overturned that decision after considering the proposal's wider environmental implications.

For supporters of the development, this will inevitably raise questions about how much influence local communities and elected councillors have when a project is considered economically important to their area.

Yet local planning decisions are not made in isolation. Developments affecting protected habitats of national or international importance can have consequences beyond the boundaries of the local authority. National intervention is intended to ensure that those wider interests are considered.

The difficulty is that both sides can make legitimate arguments. Local people understand the economic pressures facing their communities, while environmental protection rules exist partly because individual development decisions can cause damage that cannot easily be reversed.

Local democracy cannot mean that every development must be approved. Equally, national intervention should be transparent and consistent, with clear explanations of why economic benefits are judged insufficient to outweigh environmental costs.

What does this mean for the Highlands?]

The decision is particularly relevant to a region that needs to diversify its economy, attract private investment and create employment away from the main centres of population.

Golf tourism has an established international market, and Scotland's reputation for links courses is a significant economic asset. The success of Royal Dornoch demonstrates the potential value of attracting visitors who stay locally, eat in local restaurants and spend money across the wider area.

But the refusal of Coul Links does not mean that tourism development should stop. It means that proposals must be designed around the environmental and planning constraints of the locations where they are proposed.

There may be opportunities to expand accommodation, improve visitor facilities, support existing golf businesses and develop other tourism experiences without building on exceptionally sensitive habitats.

The challenge is to identify viable alternatives rather than allow the debate to end with competing claims that either economic development or nature must always lose.

There is also a question for the conservation organisations that campaigned against the course. The landowner has challenged them to help address concerns about the site's future condition. Protecting an area from development is important, but effective conservation may also require funding, practical management and long-term commitment.

A difficult balance, not a simple victory

The Scottish Government's decision will be welcomed by those who believe Coul Links is too important environmentally to be developed. Others will see it as another example of investment being lost in a rural area struggling to retain its working-age population.

Both the environmental value of the site and the need for economic opportunity in East Sutherland are real. The planning decision has determined which should take priority in this particular case.

The wider test for Scotland is whether it can protect irreplaceable natural assets while still finding ways to bring employment and investment to communities that need them.

Coul Links may now be closed to this particular golf course proposal, but the underlying debate is far from over. For rural Scotland, the goal should be an economy that can grow without destroying the very landscapes that make the Highlands special.