Petition supporting spaceport, with 513 signatures, given to MP but Wildland dispute allegations
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Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP Jamie Stone has been presented with a petition signed by 513 Sutherland and north Caithness locals.
The local petition expresses support for the Sutherland spaceport at Melness in the face of potential legal action from Anders Povlsen’s Wildlands company. It was co-ordinated by Space Port United Residents (SPUR) soon after history was made in Alness with its launch of the UK's first ground rocket test in 50 years. However, Wildland dispute that they intended any legal action.
Scot Coghill in Tongue, who established SPUR, told Mr Stone: "As a local that has lived and brought up four children in this area of Sutherland, I knew the negative press around our spaceport to be full of manipulated truths that were not supported locally.
"Protect The Mhoine lacked local support so they enlisted the help of Extinction Rebellion... the actual local objectors were very small compared to the local supporters.
"The next issue we had was Anders Holst Povlsen (Wildlands) going back on his word to the local community, as he had promised not to object if the locals supported it.
"He has used the manipulated objection numbers to give him a reason to say that the people did not want it, so he put his billions to use to hire the most expensive consultant planning expert he could to try to scupper the SSP project.
"All in all, the local supporters are truly upset at these developments. That is why SPUR started a petition of support just before the Covid outbreak – we paused it inbetween and have just started it again.
"We already have over 500 signatures from people of the north. This is fantastic support for this area for a petition, which has just been run on Facebook."
After receiving the letter, Mr Stone said: “This petition is further evidence that the spaceport has the wholehearted support of local people. I fully support SPUR as a grassroots organisation of Highlanders taking on the interests of rich landowners.
"It is quite astonishing that Mr Povlsen has gone back on his word to local people. I've had enough of it. The spaceport is critical to the economy of Sutherland and he has no right to keep stomping on the wishes of local people.
"Alness' groundbreaking achievement last week is proof that the Highlands can play host to history and that Sutherland can too. The Government needs to keep pace with space technology companies and the needs of our community in the Far North."
People can sign the petition on 38 degrees here
The full petition reads:
Wildlands - Anders Povlsen, promised when they first came here, that if the locals were supporting the spaceport project , Wildlands would " NOT STAND IN ITS WAY"! But Wildlands have threatened to take the SSP to court to slow and eventually get the project stopped! So this is to ask Wildlands to step back from acting against our local project.
Why is this important?
I have run the SPUR support group since the Sutherland spaceport project took roots. I have started this petition because this is extremely important for the future of our area. We have a massive problem with depopulation in Sutherland and Caithness. The real difficulty lies with lack of full time non-seasonal jobs to keep the young in the north. So the promise of up to 40 jobs created by this spaceport will be fantastic, especially if it attracts young professionals with families.
It also will give autonomy to the local area with money to spend as we wish. Projects we would never be able to afford as things stand now, unless it was on Wildlands' agenda. The links to be set up between the SSP and schools and colleges and universities will be great for any children with interests in science . But most of all I absolutely believe that we should not be so heavily influenced by one land owner. In that unless the project suits his agenda he will throw his fortune behind a court case to stop it with no regard to local opinion or regard to best interest for our community. This is our home we should have the final say not an absentee land owner! For generations Highlanders have been told what to do by rich land owners. THIS HAS TO STOP, we must take a stand. The SSP must go ahead for future generations and for those that have always wanted to come home.
However, a spokesman for WildLand said: “We have always been consistent with our concerns about this scheme. Our objection is publicly available, along with others such as the RSPB and SNH. As a neighbour who will be directly impacted by these proposals, it is our intention to be heard. We are one of a great many objectors, a significant number of whom live and work locally. We respect those with differing views.
“We must clarify some of the claims contained in this petition. We have never threatened legal action should this application be successful. Instead we have pointed out that this project will inevitably be subject to further scrutiny, but that is not for us to instigate. WildLand has no plans to lodge such a legal challenge, but we will continue to watch matters closely . No one from our organisation ever stated that our response to this application would be predicated on anything other than the facts.
“We are fully supportive new satellite technologies and the great benefits they can bring, but we do not support industrial scale development on wild land.
“We believe in a vision for Sutherland which will see local economic growth predicated on our most precious asset – our globally-unique landscape. From cutting-edge research to the vast potential of the flow country, an economy with nature at its heart has the opportunity to truly thrive.”
