{"id":61677,"date":"2026-09-05T07:01:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T07:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/61677\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T07:01:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T07:01:40","slug":"opposition-to-coul-links-golf-course-reaches-over-20000-signatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/61677\/","title":{"rendered":"Opposition to Coul Links golf course reaches over 20,000 signatures"},"content":{"rendered":"

A PETITION to stop the development of a golf course on one of Scotland\u2019s last undeveloped sand dune habitats has reached over 20,000 signatures.<\/p>\n

A proposed golf course at Coul Links <\/a>near Dornoch in the Highlands <\/a>has been met with community backlash as it would destroy the natural site. 21,266 people have signed a petition<\/a> to block the move.<\/p>\n

Scottish Ministers <\/a>will decide the fate of Coul Links, with developers C4C claiming that the golf course would protect the fragile habitat of the site.<\/p>\n

Coul Links hosts a number of rare and endangered species of birds and insects which the Conservation Coalition and NatureScot believe the golf course would cause irreparable damage to their home.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The site at Coul Links has been subjected to two Scottish Minister inquiries. \u00a9Alison Searl (RSPB)<\/p>\n

The Coalition, which is a group of nature organisation formed to protect Coul Links, said in a statement: \u201cThank you to everyone who has spoken up in support of this extraordinary and beautiful place. It really shows the strength of feeling people have for Coul.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a nature emergency, important wildlife sites like Coul Links should be protected, not used for the construction of a golf course. We hope Scottish Ministers will refuse this damaging development.\u201d<\/p>\n

A similar development was proposed in 2020 but was refused by Scottish Ministers. An 18-hole golf course plan was then submitted to The Highland Council\u2019s<\/a> planning committee in 2023 where 746 objections were submitted.<\/p>\n

Despite this, a second public inquiry was held in November 2024 for the course and a report was sent to Ministers the following August. Developers C4C were invited to provide further information on the impact of the site on the Dornoch Firth which was submitted in July (2026).<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Not Coul, a local community group, said: \u201cThis is a national and international issue, but also very much a local one. With a cluster of seven high-quality courses in the vicinity already, residents here value Coul Links for what it is and what it gives them. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey are outraged by the idea of Government permitting investors to swoop in and appropriate one of Scotland\u2019s most biodiverse natural assets to build just another playground for a global elite of jet-setters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 6000 year old ancient dune and wetland wilderness is triple-protected for many common sense reasons and after two tax-payer funded inquiries into golf development at the site, the evidence for refusal of the plans is now beyond overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n

The site is a Special Protection Area (SPA) due to the variety of rare birds and is recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A PETITION to stop the development of a golf course on one of Scotland\u2019s last undeveloped sand dune…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22952,22953,44,22954,22955,22956,5906],"class_list":["post-61677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-coul-links","tag-dornoch","tag-golf","tag-highlands","tag-naturescot","tag-rspb","tag-scotland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}