Wealthy environmentalist picks his preferred UK spaceport
Capitalism in space: A wealthy businessman who is also involved in environmental causes has invested almost 1.5 million pounds in the proposed spaceport planned for the Shetland Islands, the northernmost British islands.
What makes this investment especially interesting is this same environmentalist’s opposition to a different spaceport proposed for Sutherland, Scotland.
Danish businessman Mr Povlsen, who is reportedly worth £4.5bn thanks to his Bestseller clothes retail empire, and his wife own thousands of acres of land in Sutherland, and on other estates in the Highlands. [Their company] Wildland Ltd has raised concerns about Space Hub Sutherland’s impact on the Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands Special Protection Area, and has sought a judicial review of Highland Council’s permission for the satellite launch project.
Another of the Povlsens’ companies, Wildland Ventures Ltd, has invested in Shetland Space Centre.
This apparently is the ultimate in NIMBY (not in my backyard!). It seems this couple is throwing its weight behind the Shetland site in order to help keep the Sutherland site (in their backyard) from being built.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Capitalism in space: A wealthy businessman who is also involved in environmental causes has invested almost 1.5 million pounds in the proposed spaceport planned for the Shetland Islands, the northernmost British islands.
What makes this investment especially interesting is this same environmentalist’s opposition to a different spaceport proposed for Sutherland, Scotland.
Danish businessman Mr Povlsen, who is reportedly worth £4.5bn thanks to his Bestseller clothes retail empire, and his wife own thousands of acres of land in Sutherland, and on other estates in the Highlands. [Their company] Wildland Ltd has raised concerns about Space Hub Sutherland’s impact on the Caithness and Sutherland Peatlands Special Protection Area, and has sought a judicial review of Highland Council’s permission for the satellite launch project.
Another of the Povlsens’ companies, Wildland Ventures Ltd, has invested in Shetland Space Centre.
This apparently is the ultimate in NIMBY (not in my backyard!). It seems this couple is throwing its weight behind the Shetland site in order to help keep the Sutherland site (in their backyard) from being built.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
some tidbits on this guy. (can’t vouch for accuracy, it’s the internet and all…)
“The couple started buying land in 2006 and now own about 220,000 acres across 12 estates.”
–>>”Three of their four children – Alfred, five, Agnes, 12, and Alma, 15 – were killed in the bombing attacks in Sri Lanka which claimed more than 250 lives.”
“The Duke of Buccleuch is the most prominent of Scotland’s traditional big landowners, owning about 200,000 acres, mostly in the south of Scotland.”
“The billionaire ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, has also been busy snapping up about 63,000 acres of Scottish land.”
“…..the country’s biggest landowner however remains the government agencies and public bodies that manage huge areas of land on behalf of the nation.”
and…..
“The Povlsens’ extensive Scottish land and property empire is good news for the Danish public purse, as Danes pay tax on all the land they own – regardless of where it is.”
Well, it seems like a reasonable solution. Though there may be other possibilities, such as it being a convenient front for some other finance strategy. I like capitalism because at its best, everyone comes away with something good. The spaceport gets built, the guy gets to keep his ol’ peat mogs or whatever (maybe pretty good whisky), and everybody’s happy.
Hmmmmmm…. Definitely something fishy going on here…. And I don’t just mean the shoreline!! Unfortunately I’m about to start a week of 12 hour shifts, so I have no chance to do a deep dive into this… But I’m sure there is dirt to be dug here…..
So he has actively started a legal process to stop the other spaceport in his back yard while investing in the competitor?
Hard to believe that is not relevant to the legal process, the motivation there cannot be pure if he has a financial stake elsewhere. Blatant strong arm tactics. He may have shot himself in the foot.
All that hand-waving about being environmentally conscious is exposed as bluster when you pull a stunt like this.