MELNESS, WE HAVE A PROBLEM
Danish billionaire landowner in council row over plans for Highlands space hub
SCOTLAND’S largest private landowner has thrown into doubt plans to build Europe’s first vertical launch spaceport in a rural area of the Highlands.
Development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has submitted a planning application for the Space Hub Sutherland proposal on the A’ Mhoine peninsula at Melness, near Tongue.
If it receives the green light, construction could begin later this year, with space launches starting as early as 2022.
However, Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen and his wife Anne have bought up more than 200,000 acres across Sutherland and the Grampian mountains.
They plan to rewild the area and reverse years of mismanagement by previous lairds.
Mr Povlsen’s company Wildland Ltd, which controls land spread across 12 Highland estates, has lodged a holding objection to the application, citing concerns over the potential for ecological and landscape damage set against the ‘likely very limited benefits’ of the spaceport.
Mr Povlsen, reputedly worth £6.4billion from his clothing empire Bestseller, which includes the largest single shareholding in the online retailer Asos, has repeatedly stated his intention to amalgamate his estates in an effort to restore centuries of damage from overgrazing by sheep and deer. In a submission to Highland Council, his company said: ‘This is a holding objection submitted on behalf of Wildland Ltd who are nearby landowners with an interest in assessing the likely significant adverse effects on their interests, including also the adverse effects on the Kyle of Tongue National Scenic Area.’
It added: ‘A preliminary assessment of the likely landscape, visual, and ecological effects of the proposed project in this location, balanced against the likely very limited benefits, leads to the initial view the proposal is not in accordance with the [council’s] Development Plan.’
Wildland Ltd said it hopes to lodge a detailed objection to plans for the site on land owned by Melness Crofters Estate by the deadline date of March 15.
An HIE spokesman declined to comment on the ongoing planning application process.
Support for the controversial scheme remains split among the community, with eight comments in favour and five against being lodged with Highland Council.