Following an amazing public response to our e-action campaign for Coul Links, we welcomed the recent news that Scottish Ministers have decided to call in the controversial golf proposals which threaten this triple protected wildlife site. Senior Conservation Planner Kate Bellew outlines the next steps and how to keep updated as the campaign to #SaveCoulLinks continues.
Fantastic news for Coul Links! Controversial proposals ‘called-in’ for further scrutiny
We are all breathing a huge sigh of relief about the recent news that Scottish Ministers have decided to 'call in' the Coul Links proposals. This is fantastic news!
This decision means that the full merits and values of the wildlife site and associated issues will now be examined in detail. It is expected that the proposals will go through a public local inquiry process which involves the full examination of all the evidence presented by different parties.
The exact timescales are still unknown at this stage but two reporters have now been assigned to the case and it is likely that a final decision will be made by Scottish Ministers next year.
It is rare that a planning application is called in for detailed examination. We warmly welcomed this move by Scottish Ministers and hope they use this opportunity to show that development doesn’t have to happen at any cost to our precious environment. See here for more details of our reaction.
Heart-felt thank you
The public response so far has been amazing! Almost 13,000 people took part in our e-action to ask the Scottish Government to step in and save Coul Links. A heart-felt thank you to everyone who took part and helped make this decision happen.
Those of you who have been following our campaign will know that we've been working as a partnership with Buglife Scotland, Butterfly Conservation Scotland, Marine Conservation Scotland, the Marine Conservation Society, the National Trust for Scotland, and the Scottish Wildlife Trust to save this triple protected wildlife site. The battle is not over yet and we will keep working together to save this incredibly important site.
We will need your help again as the campaign to #SaveCoulLinks continues.
Keep updated on our campaign
Look out for content from @RSPBScotland on Twitter, RSPB Scotland and RSPB Highlands & Islands on Facebook, and our casework page. Please do like, share, retweet and engage with our campaign to #SaveCoulLinks
Fullest support to save Coul Links. Good luck.