The 'special' Highland habitat in spotlight as decision on golf course backed by US golf tycoon looms

Skylarks warble as they rise vertically above ancient heathland, as oyster catchers huddle, sheltered by the sand banks below. Meanwhile, an enormous raft of eider ducks can be seen bobbing within metres of the shoreline.

These are just some of the species which Coul Links, near Embo, a coastal dune system that is one of the last remaining of its kind in Scotland, provides refuge for.

It is also home to the globally-endangered fonseca’s seed fly, which is endemic to just 8km of this coastline, according to conservationists.

“It’s a special, intricate web of life,” Bea Ayling tells me, who is a conservation officer at RSPB Scotland.

“The more you look, the more you see.”

The site is part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and an internationally-designated Special Protected Area (SPA) for birds.

Yet conservationists are concerned about its future, with this mosaic of rare habitat earmarked for an 18-hole golf course development.

It is the second time the controversial proposal has been put forward. A public inquiry was held last year due to the level of pushback against the plans. Recommendations from it are due to be submitted to ministers next month, after which a decision for Coul Links will be decided.

The first application for the course was rejected by ministers in 2020 after a public inquiry found the environmental impacts outweighed the socio-economic benefits.

The second application is led by Communities for Coul (C4C), and backed by golf course tycoon Mike Keiser, who claim the course will be “low-impact” and “ecologically sensitive”, encroaching on less than 1 per cent of the Loch Fleet SSSI.

C4C said it would attract £50 million in private investment in the area and generate £30m in annual visitor spend with local businesses, while also benefiting existing golf courses in the region, of which there are at least six, including Royal Dornoch, that will together become “a global golf tourism destination.”

The firm said professor David Bell, advisor to the Scottish and UK governments, found the cluster would create up to 400 full-time equivalent jobs in the area, helping to address the area’s ongoing battle with depopulation.

Conservationists, however, have been vehemently against the proposals.

Despite C4C drawing up fresh plans, which were approved by Highland Council, RSPB Scotland said there is little improvement in reducing environmental impact.

NatureScot, the Government agency for nature, also objected to the latest plans, saying the development would pose a threat to rare lichen and mosses in the ancient dune heathland.

The site is home to dune slacks, low-lying seasonally flooded depressions within dune systems formed by wind erosion, that are unique on this stretch of east Highland coastline.

They offer shelter for breeding birds, including waders and waterfowl, many of which are of conservation concern.

“There’s no other place like this along this coast for them,” Ms Ayling said.

“They are really important for invertebrates and provides a refuge for species like teal and wigeon.”

Ms Ayling said the charity was “most concerned” about C4C’s surveying for breeding birds at the site.

“To confirm breeding birds with the method they used, you have to find a nest.

“On one of their visits, you can tell they just walked around the outside and didn’t go into the middle. You’re not going to find nests doing that. They only had a few confirmed bird species breeding here when there is a lot more.”

Ms Ayling said surveys of the birds were only carried out over one year, but with the amount using the site and the variation in populations, it should have been for at least two.

Using binoculars, we admired a parcel of oyster catchers up ahead, keeping our distance. The species typically start laying their eggs between April and June.

Ms Ayling said development on Coul Links would cause more disturbance to the birds than the current low-level impact of walkers.

“Disturbance is a real issue. If you have a breeding bird on a nest and you disturb it, it will come off the nest and the eggs will go cold. The bird could change its behaviour or it could avoid an area altogether.

“Once you open a golf course, there’s going to be a marked uplift of people on the site and that will impact these birds.”

Some honking from pink-footed geese grab our attention as they gather in fields opposite Coul Links.

Ms Ayling points out separate plans have been approved for a multi-million-pound eco-hotel with four lodges in these fields. There is also an additional application for a reservoir backing on to the site.

“The cumulative impact is something we said needed to be assessed, but it wasn’t done.”

C4C said, as part of its mitigation, the course will only be seasonal, and closed between November and March “when birds are nesting”.

But with SPA birds at the site year-round and maintenance work taking place in winter months, Ms Ayling said the temporary closure was not enough.

She added: “The intensive mowing regimes would disrupt the habitat completely.

“There’s also plans to use fungicide and fertiliser on the tees and greens and we expect contamination would extend further than the areas they are intended for, causing contamination of the water system.”

C4C claimed developers have committed to spend around £500,000 in the first five years to “fully restore” what they described as a “rapidly declining Coul Links' SSSI” due to lack of action to tackle invasive vegetation species.

Ms Ayling acknowledged this, but added: “The management that is required can be delivered without a golf course.”

A spokesperson for C4C said the “vast majority” of the people in east Sutherland support the development, “with approximately 70 per cent voting in favour of it in a community ballot in 2021”.

The spokesperson added: “Every aspect of the Scottish planning legislations was adhered to during planning process, this includes following the exact requirements of NatureScot for bird surveys.

“The RSPB has clearly put a lot of money into trying to stop the small community of east Sutherland, whom C4C represent, from achieving a once in a generation opportunity for the area that would also save the SSSI.

“If they are successful and the application is refused, we hope that RSPB will invest meaningful money into Coul Links to restore the site into a favourable condition and fund its ongoing management. So far, they have not offered any actual help, despite their wealth and the rapidly degrading state of the Links.”