Scotland Approved Third Spaceport Near Protected Area Despite Opposition

The Scottish government has given the green light to build the third spaceport in the country despite local opposition to the plan.

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the Western Isles Council, has submitted plans to develop the facility at Scolpaig in North Uist as another spaceport.

The hub will be capable of vertically launching suborbital rockets over the Atlantic, with at least 10 launches per year.

According to a BBC report, the council stressed that Spaceport 1 would provide highly skilled jobs for the island.

"Even at this early stage, it is acknowledged by the launch industry that Spaceport 1 - and the Outer Hebrides - has a critical role to play in the expansion of the Scottish and UK space sectors," the council's spokesman said.

Local opposition

The project has received 244 objections, as well as a petition with nearly 1,000 signatories.

Objectors are concerned about the spaceport's impact on the environment, landscape, and tourism.

The location is bordered by conservation zones for rare and endangered species such as corncrakes, dunlin, ringed plover, and redshank, as well as various coastal protection areas.

However, some Ecologists believed the project's small scale would cause insignificant harm to nearby animals, but the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds requested that launches be prohibited during the mating season.

Local fishermen also oppose the idea, as nearby fishing grounds will be closed during launches, which are scheduled to coincide with their main summer inshore fishing seasons.

The Guardian reported that the Western Isles Fishermen's Association said its members, as well as tour boats transporting guests by sea from nearby Leverburgh to St Kilda, have already felt the economic effects of Brexit, the COVID pandemic, and the cost of living problem.

The news upset Angus MacNab, one of the nearest neighbors to the site and a key figure in the protest organization Friends of Scolpaig.

The group is discussing whether it can afford to go to court to challenge the judgment.

"This is one of the most beautiful vistas in Scotland, and now they're going to build a bloody spaceport in the middle of it," MacNab said.

Careful consideration

The Scottish government said the minister has carefully studied the spaceport proposal.

The planning applications board of the Comhairle unanimously granted clearance a month ago before referring it to the Scottish government for further review.

The spokesperson added that the ministers "have concluded there were no issues that warranted their involvement in this planning application".

"It has been cleared back to Western Isles Council for future handling," the spokesperson said, as quoted by The Scotsman.

The minister's support for the project links to Scotland's goal of earning a significant part of the global space industry, estimated to be worth £490 billion by 2030, particularly with the increased usage of microsatellites for communications and Earth monitoring.

The new facility is one of the spaceports being built in Scotland, including ones in Shetland and Sutherland in the Highlands.

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