Scotland's richest man, a letter to a SNP minister and a spaceport 'win win'
The sudden decision to “pause” the Sutherland Spaceport, which received £14.6m in public funding, continues to reverberate.
A company owned by the country’s largest landowner and arch opponent of the now-halted Sutherland Spaceport told a Scottish Government minister of the “dilemma” over its future investments in the Highlands if the development went ahead - and the “win win” if the spaceport was located in Shetland instead.
Wildland Ltd, which manages the estates of Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen, set out its position on a spaceport back in January 2020 in correspondence with Fergus Ewing, then cabinet secretary for rural economy and tourism.
Details of the letter have emerged following the sudden announcement on December 4 that aerospace company Orbex was “pausing” the Sutherland Spaceport after an investment of eight years and £14.6m of public money to focus solely on rocket development, with launches now switched to Saxa Vord in Shetland.
The correspondence followed a meeting between Mr Ewing and Mr Povlsen at the landowner’s house in Glenfeshie to discuss Wildland’s plans for forestry creation, it is understood.
Tim Kirkwood, CEO of Wildland, then wrote: “At the meeting we touched upon Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s involvement as developer of the proposed Sutherland Space Hub.
“Whilst the matter is not directly related to Climate Change and Woodland Creation it would be very unfortunate if the dilemma ultimately boils down to a choice that Wildland has to make about continuing with its ambitions for its North Coast Estates or not.”
It added: “From a wider development perspective...it seems to me that a launch facility in Shetland and the Wildland developments in Tongue present a win/win.”
Mr Povlsen’s company Wildland Ventures became a major shareholder in the Shetland Space Centre, the company which owns Saxa Vord, in 2020.
Mr Kirkwood, the Wildland chief executive, also bought a stake in the company that year.
At the time the letter was written, the planning application for the Sutherland Spaceport was being considered by Highland Council, which approved the development. Wildland then went to challenge the decision in the Court of Session, but lost the case.
The issues raised in the correspondence regarding the spaceport were not responded to by Mr Ewing given they were outwith his rural economy brief, which ended in May 2021, and his Inverness and Nairn constituency.
Dorothy Pritchard, chair of Melness Crofters Estate, spent eight years working to get the Sutherland Spaceport built on their land given the promise of economic regeneration of the area by the development, which was poised to create 40 jobs. Earlier, she said the community had felt “betrayed” by the sudden U-turn by Orbex.
She and her colleagues pursued the case through planning, the Scottish Land Court and the Court of Session after the Wildland appeal on the grounds of impact to the landscape and environment.
Of the letter, she said: “Wildland have been against us from the very beginning and it was part of the local discussion here that they were threatening to pull out if the spaceport went ahead. It is not a fair way of doing things. We went through every democratic process possible to get the spaceport in place.”
No one from Wildland was available for direct comment but the company said all objections to Sutherland were “entirely based on concern for the local landscape and environment”.
Last week, HEARTLAND, the company which represents the interests of the Povlsen family, said it did not play a part in the recent Sutherland Spaceport decision “which was entirely a matter for Orbex and Saxa Vord”.
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