Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Sutherland spaceport: Documentary of project in demand

Post Thumbnail

Spaceport developers in the Highlands have received “several” bids from film-makers who are keen to follow the project for a TV documentary.

Production companies have approached Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) about the proposal, the P&J has learned.

The film-makers are believed to want behind-the-scenes access to the creation of the UK’s first vertical satellite-launching station near Tongue, on the north coast of Sutherland.

However, officials have not agreed to the move yet, with documents showing some fear it would be “time consuming and may distract from the project”.

They also do not want to take a decision before the commercial operators for the spaceport site have been appointed.

A spokesman for HIE confirmed the bids, saying: “We have been approached by several researchers representing production companies planning documentaries about the spaceport.

“While we have offered to provide an HIE representative for interview when required, we have not offed to take part in forward planning or shaping these programmes, nor have we committed to providing site access at any specific points in the project development.

“This is because there are different parties involved in the development, not least the commercial operating company, which has not yet been appointed.

“We cannot pre-empt their participation in filming documentaries.”

HIE hope the £17.3 million Space Hub Sutherland scheme will enable rockets to be launched from the Melness Crofting Estate from the early 2020s.

It believes the scheme could help create “significantly more” than 400 jobs, and that the sector could become as important to the local economy as renewable energy.

A planning application is due to be submitted in September, after which the plans are expected to go before the Scottish Land Court, amid objections from some of the local crofters.

The P&J also revealed in March that a company owned by Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen, Scotland’s largest private land-owner, holds a sporting lease for the land.

The firm, Wildland Ltd, will have to agree to give up the lease, or change the terms, otherwise HIE would have to pursue a complicated compulsory purchase order.

Separate spaceport proposals are also being developed at Unst on Shetland and at North Uist in the Western Isles.