Scotland’s biggest private landowner has been attacked as “manipulative” and “undemocratic” after The Ferret revealed that his company lobbied the Scottish Government to stymie plans for a spaceport in Sutherland.
A letter released under freedom of information law shows that Wildland Limited — which runs three large estates across Scotland for Danish billionaire, Anders Holch Povlsen — warned the former rural economy minister, Fergus Ewing, that its planned investments could be endangered by the spaceport.
Some campaigners are angered by the lobbying, while others are disappointed. Land reformers criticise the political influence wielded by large landowners.
But Wildland says it took an “opportunity to raise long-standing and well-known concerns”. It fears the port, which would be used to launch satellites into space, could damage an “important, environmentally vulnerable landscape”.