Judicial review into Sutherland space port due next month

A judicial review of planning permission for a satellite launch site in the Highlands is due to be held next month.

Billionaires Anders and Anne Holch Povlsen, who own land near the proposed Space Hub Sutherland, have concerns about its impact on protected areas.

Their company Wildland Ltd raised the legal action against Highland Council's planning approval.

Preparative work at the proposed site near Tongue has started.

A six-week long ground investigation began on Monday. The survey will guide the final design and construction of the facility.

Engineers are examining sections of the 10.4 acre (4.2ha) site to establish the sequence and thickness of the soil strata and the level of bedrock that lies beneath.

Laboratory testing of peat, soil and rock samples will later be carried out, with the findings being used to inform detailed design of foundations, access roads and spaceport infrastructure, including the control centre and launch pad complex.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), which is leading the project, said it expected the judicial review to begin next month.

The scheme also needs approval from the Scottish Land Court, as the proposed development is on crofting land. A hearing is under way.

HIE has proposed building the facility for launching small satellites on the Moine Peninsula, an area of peatland and crofts on the Highlands' north coast.

The public agency has said the project would create jobs and help boost the Highlands' and wider Scottish economy.

Highland Council received 457 objections and 118 representations in support of HIE's planning application.

The impact on the environment, including the Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands Special Protection Area, and risk to human health were among the reasons for objections.

The local authority approved the plans in June last year and referred their decision to the Scottish government for scrutiny.

In August, Scottish ministers said the plans did not require a decision at national level and should be dealt with by Highland Council.

Last year, Wildland Ltd said following "a period of review and reflection" its initial concerns about the potential environmental impact of the space port remained.

It said it was "absolutely vital that planning applications of such scale and significance for environmentally vulnerable protected areas" were subject to "rigorous scrutiny" at the planning application stage, whoever the applicant happened to be.

Wildland Ltd said it believed that the council did not have access to "sufficiently detailed or rigorous impact assessments" on key aspects of the proposal to approve it.