Failing to secure green freeport status for Cromarty Firth area would be economically 'pretty devastating' admits leading businessman Roy MacGregor of Global Energy Group in call to 'fight for the Highlands' amid concerns politics could sway massive decision
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A LEADING Highland businessman with long-standing interests in Ross-shire is rallying round a "transformative" Cromarty Firth freeport bid amid concerns the area could lose out to the central belt.
A bid tabled by Opportunity Cromarty Firth (OCF) for so-called green freeport status is one of five now being considered by UK and Scottish govenments.
Global Energy boss Roy MacGregor insists the OCF bid is by far the best and would rejuvenate the local economy – but admits to worries over the decision-making process.
Backers say the benefits granted could be billions through development of offshore renewables and create up to 20,000 jobs.
RELATED: Green hydrogen partnership backs £1bn OCF bid
Global Energy is committed to renewables and invested £110 million to create the UK's largest wind tower manufacturing facility at Nigg.
Operators of a green freeport would benefit from a package of tax incentives to deliver key policy objectives that could secure employment and investment for decades.
But OCF faces stiff competition from four other bids seeking to be one of two freeports chosen.
The winning bids are expected to be determined later this month by both Conservative and SNP ministers and comes at a time of heightened political sparring.
Two areas in particular offer rich political pickings for parties at loggerheads over independence – Aberdeen, which is suffering from the decline of oil and gas, and the Clyde.
Rejecting the OCF bid would, according to Mr MacGregor, be “pretty devastating” and deepen the depopulation spiral that has led some to talk of a "new Highland Clearances".
He said: “We need manufacturing jobs in the Highlands. It is very much about diversifying the economy, well-paid manufacturing jobs that have a supply chain spin-off. It is not just the direct jobs but the indirect jobs too.
“The Cromarty Firth bid is one of the best and strongest because few, if any, industrial areas have done more to transform themselves from oil and gas to renewables. We are ahead of the pack.
“But we are also in a political environment, it is about votes – that is a concern. There are five bids, naturally every MP or MSP will want their own area to get it – we don’t have a lot of MPs so the pressure of however many MPs in Glasgow compared to three in the Highlands.”
He says the benefits would be felt across the region: "This is not just for Inverness and Easter Ross, this is for Wick, Thurso, Stornoway, Kyle, Oban – this is for the Highlands because that is where the effect will be felt."
He admitted: “Economically, if we didn’t get it would be pretty devastating.We had a challenge with nuclear and Dounreay, we have Fort William with depopulation, we have Invergordon smelter which closed. Everything that has been in manufacturing has been challenged all the time.
“And now here we are being challenged again – here is this new industry, which is particularly a Highland industry, especially the wind, and yet they might give it to someone else. I think we need to fight for the Highlands.
“The future would be considerably bleaker economically for the Highlands if we don’t get the green freeport.If you look at the Biggar Report, there is something like 11 per cent more people in the retirement age group and 15 per cent less people coming through schools.
“There is nowhere better located for a green freeport than the Cromarty Firth, it is just a natural port and remember that Inverness is in it as well, it is the powerhouse of the Highlands."
He is "confident that the bid will deliver on its promises".
