Povlsen’s Challenge Rejected: The Scottish Spaceport Construction Will Commence
7th Sep 2021The hopes for the new Sutherland Spaceport to commence may have dwindled after all these years of planning. The reason is one of the most discussed topics of today – the Supreme Court of Scotland juridical review. The Court started the review because of the petition of Anders Povlsen, the owner of several large companies and the biggest land owner in Scotland.
The Scottish Spaceport Construction Will Commence Soon
Fortunately for HIE, the most promising UK spaceport constructor, Lord Raymond Doherty, rejected Povlsen’s challenge. No accusations that the hub is threatening the region’s biodiversity, no threats that it will harm the local nature – nothing could persuade the judge. According to Lord Doherty himself, there were no grounds for any of the petition points.
Peculiarly enough, earlier, Anders Povlsen invested generously in another UK spaceport – Shetland. However, this spaceport hasn’t received permission to go ahead yet, unlike the UK spaceport in Sutherland, as local organisations are concerned with its impact on the environment and the Skaw radar station, a WWII monument.
One More Decision Is Yet to Be Made About the UK Spaceport Construction
Another factor that is slowing the first UK spaceport launch site down is the Scottish Land Court case. The decision has already kept HIE waiting for some time, and it seems it can take the judges a while to make it. The court may (or may not) give its permission for constructing the hub taking into account the interests of crofters who own the land where the Scottish spaceport is to be located. The prospective launches from the Scottish spaceport will make them take their livestock away from the estate pastures – and this is ten square kilometres we are talking about. Besides, this won’t be a rare occasion since HIE plans that there will be about twelve launches a year. Yet, the constructors hope that the court will see enough opportunities for compromise and grant permission for Scottish spaceport operations as soon as possible.
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