ONCE more, a battle between golf and nature is imminent on Scotland’s coast. Once more, a wealthy US businessman wants a fairway where now wild grassland grows.

Mike Keiser, said to be a rival to Donald Trump (at least in fairway construction), is part of a consortium seeking to build a course at Coul Links, near Embo, north of Dornoch. Conservationist groups oppose the plan vehemently, saying it will destroy a valuable ecosystem. They say there is already a superfluity of coastal golf courses in Scotland and accuse local backers of blithely rubbing their hands at imagined economic benefits while ignoring environmental implications.

Developers say their plans are not only sensitive to the environment but could help protect it. But their main argument is economic, with the prospect of bringing jobs and commerce to the area. Examining the respective cases, we note one emphasises humans, the other wildlife. Ideally, they could cohabit, reconciling whinchat, moonwort and frog orchid with seekers of birdies and eagles.

These matters tend to play out on the unwritten principle that developers are guilty until proven innocent. Mr Keiser and his colleagues, conspicuously assaying reasonableness and environmental awareness, will have the chance to make their case in forthcoming consultations.