Scottish Ministers Refuse Coul Links Golf Course Near Dornoch for Second Time
Scottish ministers refused planning permission on Oct. 21, 2026, for an 18-hole course at Coul Links in the Scottish Highlands, agreeing it would significantly harm protected habitats. It is the second refusal at the site, and Communities for Coul says this is the end for the group.
Scottish ministers refused planning permission on Oct. 21, 2026, for an 18-hole golf course at Coul Links, a protected dune system at Embo near Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands. The decision turned down an application from Communities for Coul (C4C), a local not-for-profit group. This marks the second time ministers have refused a course at the site, which lies less than two miles north of Royal Dornoch, which recently opened a £13.9 million clubhouse by Keppie Design. The first refusal came in February 2020.
Ministers agreed with government reporters David Buylla and Stuart West that the course would cause significant harm to nationally and internationally important habitats and species. The decision letter described the dunes as "of exceptional importance" even by the standards of a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and concluded that the course would compromise the integrity of the Loch Fleet SSSI. They also agreed with NatureScot, the government's nature agency, that it could not be shown the course would not adversely affect the Dornoch Firth and Loch Fleet Ramsar Site, a wetland of international importance.
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The letter further cited likely significant effects on Fonseca's seed fly and ringed plover, and determined that the plan ran contrary to national coastal development policy. Ministers accepted that the course would bring jobs and visitor spending of local and regional significance to East Sutherland, yet found those benefits are not of national importance and do not outweigh the harm. According to the reporters' report, the course would have covered 22.7 hectares, 14.7 of them inside the SSSI and a special protection area, with existing buildings converted to a clubhouse.
C4C stated on its website that its application had been refused and that "this is the end for C4C." The group says it raised more than £400,000 to defend its case. Director Gordon Sutherland told The Herald the decision was "a real blow for our area's economy and its unique environment." Landowner Edward Abel Smith told the BBC he was "absolutely gutted." Seven groups, including RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, opposed the plan, according to the BBC. RSPB Scotland director Duncan Orr-Ewing called the site "a very special place for nature" and said development would have damaged it permanently.
C4C applied through Ness Planning in February 2023. Highland Council's North Planning Applications Committee resolved to grant permission on Dec. 6, 2023, against NatureScot's advice, and ministers called in the application on Feb. 8, 2024. Reporters held a hearing at Embo Community Centre from Nov. 11 to 15, 2024. The decision is final, subject to the right of any aggrieved person to apply to the Court of Session within six weeks of the letter's date.
The earlier plan was led by American businessman Todd Warnock with Mike Keiser, developer of Bandon Dunes in Oregon, and was to be designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, Golfweek reported. Highland Council approved it in 2018, and ministers refused it on Feb. 21, 2020, after a public inquiry. C4C's website described the 2023 course as "developed by Mike Keiser and designed by Coore & Crenshaw." Royal Dornoch's general manager made submissions supporting the 2023 plan, according to the reporters' report.
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Two rounds of ministerial review, six years apart, have now found that the ecological harm of building on a site Golfweek has described as one of the most coveted in the Highlands outweighs the case for a course. C4C, the group behind the latest attempt, says this is the end for it.
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