Petition Of Wildland Limited For Judicial Review Of A Decision Of The Highland Council Dated 5 August 2020 Granting Planning Permission For The Construction Of A Vertical Launch Space Port Etc Near Dunbuie, Talmine, Tongue
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judge | Lord Doherty |
| Neutral Citation | [2021] CSOH 87 |
| Date | 20 August 2021 |
| Docket Number | P901/20 |
| Court | Court of Session |
| Published date | 20 August 2021 |
OUTER HOUSE, COURT OF SESSION
[2021] CSOH 87
P901/20
OPINION OF LORD DOHERTY
In the petition of
WILDLAND LIMITED
Petitioner
for Judicial Review of a decision of The Highland Council dated 5 August 2020 granting
planning permission for the construction of a vertical launch space port etc near Dunbuie,
Talmine, Tongue
Petitioner: MG Thomson QC, Van der Westhuizen; Morton Fraser LLP
Respondent: Burnet QC; DWF LLP
Interested Party (Highland and Islands Enterprise): J Findlay QC, N McLean solicitor advocat e;
Brodies LLP
20 August 2021
Introduction
[1] The respondent is The Highland Council. It is the planning authority for The
Highland Council area. On 5 August 2020 it granted planning permission in respect of
application 20/00616/FUL submitted by Highland and Islands Enterprise (“HIE”) for the
construction of a vertical launch space port with launch operations control centre, site
integration facility, launch pad complex, antenna park, access road, fencing, services and
associated infrastructure at land 2.6 km south west of Dunbuie, Talmine, Tongue. The
petitioner controls land adjacent to the site of the proposed development. It made written
representations to the respondent against the proposed development.
2
[2] The proposed development, to be known as Space Hub Sutherland (“SHS”), is a
dedicated facility for the vertical launch of a range of different launch vehicles (“LVs”) by
multiple launch service providers to deliver small satellites into orbit around earth. It is to
be operated by a launch site operator (“LSO”). The key elements of the surface
infrastructure of the proposed development include: (i) a launch operation control centre
building; (ii) a launch site integration facility building; (iii) a launch pad complex from
where LVs will take off; (iv) an antenna park; (v) an access road, 2.5 km in length, from
the A838 road to the launch pad. The site is on the A’Mhòine peninsula. It extends to
approximately 307 hectares, with built development and infrastructure covering
approximately 3.13 hectares. The site boundary overlaps five designated sites, namely the
Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands Special Area of Conservation (“the SAC”), the
Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands Special Protection Area (“the SPA”), the Caithness and
Sutherland Peatlands Ramsar site, and the Ben Hutig and A’ Mhòine Sites of Special
Scientific Interest.
Background to the application
[3] The application was subject to the Town and Country Planning (Environmental
Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 (“the 2017 Regulations”) and was
accompanied by an environmental impact assessment report (“EIAR”). The EIAR
considered environmental effects associated with the construction, operational and
decommissioning phases of the proposed development, and included chapters on, inter alia,
ecology, ornithology, traffic and transport, and a summary and schedule of mitigation and
monitoring. The EIAR recognised that article 6(3) of EU Council Directive 92/43/EEC (“the
Habitats Directive”), as implemented by regulation 48 of the Conservation (Natural
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