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Remote Military Base To Be Redeveloped
A military tracking station on a remote Scottish island is to be redeveloped.
The base on the island of Hirta is in the St Kilda archipelago and is linked to a missile range controlled from another military site in the Western Isles.
The island, which lies to the north West of the Scottish mainland, is so remote the last islanders left it in 1930. The island was evacuated by HMS Harbell.
The only people who now live on Hirta do so on a temporary basis to work at the military site or on conservation projects.
The Ministry of Defence has had a tracking station on the island since 1957.
Along with the National Trust for Scotland, the MoD has submitted a planning request for the building which the trust calls “sympathetic and sustainable”.
Construction of the facility is expected to take two years.
The rough Atlantic waters mean that there is only one short season in the summer when it’s possible to gain regular access to the island by boat.
The National Trust for Scotland’s Property Manager for St Kilda, Susan Bain said:“We have been very impressed by the extent to which the MoD and its partners have gone to make sure they come up with proposals that will enhance the existing site and are both sympathetic and sustainable in the vitally important context of St Kilda.
“The military has a long association with St Kilda going back to the First World War and we are very pleased to have worked in partnership with the MoD since 1957.”
St Kilda achieved World Heritage status for its outstanding natural heritage and was among the very first sites put forward by the UK for inscription on the World Heritage List in 1986.
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