Sutherland spaceport plans given green light after legal ruling
A judge has approved a change of use for an area of croftland near Tongue
Plans for a spaceport in Sutherland have cleared a major legal hurdle, as a Scottish Land Court judge has approved a change of use for an area of croftland near Tongue to enable the facility.
However land around the hangar and launch pad must remain available for farming by crofters.
Melness Crofters' Estate chairwoman Dorothy Pritchard said the spaceport would create new opportunity and employment.
The proposed spaceport had faced a legal challenge from billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen, with concerns about the impact on protected areas.
Mr Povlsen, who owns more land in the UK than the Queen and the Church of Scotland combined, is the majority shareholder in the online fashion giant Asos.
The Danish tycoon and his wife Anne, worth an estimated £6 billion, own tens of thousands of acres of land in Sutherland and across the Highlands as a whole.
He raised the legal action against Highland Council's planning approval, but in a ruling last month at the Court of Session, Lord Doherty rejected the legal challenge brought by Wildland Ltd against the local authority, saying he was "not persuaded" the local authority had breached any law.
Dorothy Pritchard, of Melness Crofters' Estate, said the latest legal decision cleared the way for construction to start.
She said: “This is fantastic news for the long-term future of our community, and we welcome this decision from the Land Court today to grant the change in land use. It’s all systems go now for building the Space Hub, and we look forward to working with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Orbex in the coming weeks and months ahead.
Our vision from day one has been to create opportunities for the local community while minimising disruption to our landscape here in Sutherland. We know that unless we create more opportunities for people to live and work here in Sutherland then we will lose the heart and soul of our communities. The job creation that comes as a direct result of the Space Hub and additional knock-on opportunities in the future will ensure that our community thrives for generations to come.”
Rocket manufacturer Orbex, with its UK headquarters in Forres, is involved in the project with it hoped to have a transformative effect across the North.
The ruling means the first rockets carrying small satellites could launch from from next year.