Coul Links Inquiry Report 2019
Coul Links Ltd submitted to the Highland Council an application for planning permission on 29 September 2017.
The development proposed was a classic, 18-hole golf course with clubhouse and maintenance facility, renovation of existing buildings on-site to form a pro-shop, caddy hut, workshop, administration building, information booth, and new site access road. The area of land concerned was that immediately to the north of the coastal village of Embo in south-eastern Sutherland, with Loch Fleet estuary to the north, to the east Embo beach and the Dornoch Firth, with the town of Dornoch around 4km by road to the south west. The site encompasses agricultural land associated with Coul Farm with the category B listed Coul Farmhouse and associated buildings located in the centre of the site. The site is traversed by a dismantled railway line running south-east and then southwards across the site, which is a core path. Between the former railway line and the coast is a dune system which forms part of the designated nature conservation sites of Dornoch Firth and Loch Fleet Special Protection,
Planning permission was not granted by the Highland Council, which led to an Appeal by Coul Links Ltd, with the application called-in by notice for determination by Scottish Ministers and received by the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DEPA) on 24 August 2018. The Direction was made ‘as the proposal raises issues of national importance in relation to natural heritage issues and its compliance with SPP which require further scrutiny at a national level.’
Reporters Mr David Liddell BA (Hons) MRTPI and Mr Timothy Brian BA (Hons) DipURP MRTPI were appointed by the Scottish Ministers and the dates of Inquiry/Hearing Sessions and Site Visits were: 26 February-1 March, 5-8 March, 12-15 March, and 19-22 March 2019.
The Inquiry report was published on 27 November 2019 with the Reporters’ recommendation ‘To refuse planning permission.’
Dimensions: A4