North Uist could be home to a new rocket site – but islanders say it would damage important habitats

Rocky headlands frame the silvery white sands of Scolpaig Bay on the western coast of North Uist. The spread of machair – a grassland thick with flowers in summer – moorland and rock is much loved by walkers and birdwatchers.

It is home to breeding colonies of cormorants and black guillemots as well as seals, otters and the occasional hen harrier. On the horizon to the west, the dramatic islands of St Kilda are just visible, otherwise there is nothing but the Atlantic.

But a storm is brewing that is casting a deep cloud over the community, as fears grow about plans to build the UK’s first spaceport in the middle of this stunning coastline, dividing the 1,200 people who live on the Hebridean island.

Many fear that rockets blasting satellites into space from Spaceport 1 could shatter the calm of the island and terrify its rare wildlife. In consultation meetings last week in North Uist, locals raised their fears about the environmental impact as well as asking about the economic benefits.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has now added its voice to the growing chorus of objections, warning that the chosen site is in a “highly sensitive area”. Scolpaig is part of a national scenic area, a designation that defines it as one of Scotland’s 40 finest landscapes. It also sits adjacent to several special protection areas designated for their significance for birds. A major RSPB bird reserve, Balranald, is within 2km. Corncrakes, Greenland barnacle geese and ringed plover are just a few of the many species living in the area.

More than 600 representations have been made to the Western Isles council (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar), the vast majority objecting to the plan to build what is described as the “first phase” of a spaceport to launch research rockets. Subsequent phases would involve further expansion to cater to the expanding global market for satellite launches. Locals fear that the industrial infrastructure and noise disturbance will damage the island’s reputation as one of Europe’s last great wildernesses.

We’re sceptical of the promise of jobs for locals … We fear the militarisation of a precious landscape Angus McNab

“This is a superbly beautiful area and tourism is a major source of income and jobs. It doesn’t need this kind of industrial development,” says Angus McNab, a resident and one of the founders of the protest group Friends of Scolpaig.

Behind the spaceport application is a consortium that includes the council and the Highlands and Islands Enterprise agency (HIE), as well as the military contractor QinetiQ which already runs a missile firing range in nearby South Uist with radar tracking from its base on St Kilda. The council has invested £1m in the scheme, buying the land in June, and the HIE has invested nearly £10m.

“The Uists have a fragile economy heavily dependent on the public sector. Here is a fantastic example of innovation which could bring real benefit to the community,” says Joe McPhee, the council’s head of economic development.

The consortium promotes itself as offering “low-cost access to space” and is suggesting that the scheme could generate payments of about £900,000 a year for the islanders and up to 70 jobs. The island is desperate to secure its future after decades of slow but inexorable population decline as young people leave to find work on the mainland, and the population ages. The plan would also help boost Scotland’s growing space industry, says McPhee.

But McNab says: “We’re sceptical of the promise of jobs for locals. At one meeting, it was admitted that there would be only eight to 13 jobs on the spaceport itself.” He added that the most skilled jobs were unlikely to be filled by islanders. “We fear the militarisation of a precious landscape.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Locals on North Uist fear the development of a launch site such as this one on French Guiana. Photograph: Getty Images

There is a long history of the sparsely populated Western Isles being used for military installations, and the fear is that the beauty of Scolpaig may be yet another casualty. Although the spaceport is currently proposed as a commercial venture for the launch of satellites with sun-synchronous and polar orbits, there is always the possibility that it could be turned to military use.

Islanders question why the remote site of Scolpaig has been chosen, fearing that it may be because of the risk of damage from unsuccessful launches and intrusive noise. But Mark Roberts, the spaceport’s project director, says that the site, which faces north over the sea, was chosen because of the access it gives to the required orbits. The existing South Uist range would be less viable commercially, he adds.

The application made in July proposed to start work by the end of the year, provoking complaints that it was being rushed through without the usual environmental assessments. But concern from environmental bodies has forced delays and the council is to conduct tests on the fragile peat moorland next week, and has begun surveys on the local birdlife.

What has alarmed protesters is that the council is both part of the consortium and the deciding authority on the application. The consortium maintains that a full environmental impact assessment is not required at this stage given the small scale of work planned for this phase.

However, the concern is that the noise of the launches could affect wildlife, and the construction of roads, launchpads and an assembly point in which to construct the rockets will destroy rare habitats.

Close by the proposed launch site, a picturesque tower stands on an islet in Loch Scolpaig, a 19th-century folly built to provide employment for islanders during the potato famine. Constructed on the ruins of an Iron Age fort, the tower is just one of a number of archaeological remains that could be damaged by vibrations.

“Our unique selling point as an island is our natural environment and archaeology and this proposal will leave this lovely area desolate,” says Mairi Morrison, a member of the local history society. “Huge sums are being invested in a project with dubious benefits instead of into the small-scale social enterprises that are better suited to serve the island’s future.”