No Green Freeport for Orkney

 Orkney Islands Council (OIC) has expressed its disappointment at not being named as one of Scotland’s two future Green Freeports.

However, it says the bidding process “has raised the profile and awareness of Orkney’s potential” and that it will work to bring as much benefit as possible from the increased awareness.

Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport and Forth Green Freeport have been selected by the Scottish and UK governments to become Scotland’s first Green Freeports.

The two winning bids will be supported by up to £52 million in start-up funding and will benefit from tax reliefs and other incentives.

Leader of OIC James Stockan, said: “It is disappointing but not altogether surprising that UK and Scottish Governments have decided not to locate a Green Freeport in Orkney, given the way the bid process was structured, with scoring heavily weighted to the number of jobs that would be supported. Competing on a largely numbers basis was always going to be a challenge for a small place like Orkney.

“However, our bid did present a unique and compelling vision of a green innovation zone for Orkney, driving forward the low carbon agenda for Scotland and the UK, reimagining the traditional role of Freeports as simply hubs for large volumes of import/export. So we are hopeful our bid will pave the way to something more fitting for our community.

“Without a doubt our involvement in the bid process has raised the profile and awareness of Orkney’s potential, and opened up a route for us to lobby for an alternative investment in the county including benefits for renewables firms.

“We’ll continue to press the case for investment in Orkney which is based on quality and innovation, rather than quantity of jobs – because we think Orkney is absolutely vital in our journey as a nation to net zero.”