{"id":273836,"date":"2026-01-08T09:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T09:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/273836\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T09:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T09:13:13","slug":"new-scottish-dark-sky-observatory-plans-submitted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/273836\/","title":{"rendered":"New Scottish Dark Sky Observatory plans submitted"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Giancarlo RinaldiSouth Scotland reporter<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765806968_986_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5531c430-ebdd-11f0-bb6f-d709b650ca8e.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Marc Charron A brightly lit observatory building beneath a swirling starry sky\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>Marc Charron<\/p>\n<p>A lengthy search was undertaken to find a site to replace the old facility near Dalmellington<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Plans for a new Scottish Dark Sky Observatory (SDSO) have been submitted more than four years after the old one was destroyed by fire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">They would see the conversion and extension of the former Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) visitor centre at Clatteringshaws near New Galloway.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">A return to the previous location near Dalmellington was ruled out due to poor accessibility, lack of utilities and security concerns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Now plans have been lodged for a \u00a31.5m observatory in Dumfries and Galloway made up of two observing domes &#8211; each with a large telescope.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765806968_986_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/f2804880-ad7f-11ef-9f62-6112282576ba.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Marc Charron The smouldering remaids of a building stand on tarmac in the middle of a tree-lined country scene\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>Marc Charron<\/p>\n<p>The old building was destroyed by fire in 2021<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The old observatory was destroyed in a &#8220;devastating fire&#8221; on 23 June 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;The entire UK astronomy community was shaken by the loss of an outstanding educational and tourism facility,&#8221; said a design statement submitted with the planning application to Dumfries and Galloway Council.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">After exploring a wide variety of options, the SDSO <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c0mzppkw8pyo\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">completed the purchase of the visitor centre<\/a> &#8211; backed by funding from South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) &#8211; in November 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The site &#8211; which enjoys views over Clatteringshaws Loch &#8211; is considered ideal for the new facility.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765806968_986_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2291e210-a65d-11ef-aa0a-09d4c225e0bd.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Steven Tsang A wooden-fronted observatory building on snowy ground underneath a very starry sky\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>Steven Tsang<\/p>\n<p>A return to the old site was ruled out for a variety of reasons<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It will include a 360 degree planetarium as well as a gift shop and small cafe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The aim is to create a unique educational asset and visitor attraction which capitalises on the Dark Sky Park designation <a target=\"_self\" href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/1\/hi\/scotland\/south_of_scotland\/8361244.stm\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">secured by the Galloway Forest in 2009<\/a> &#8211; the first of its kind in the UK.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">That, in turn, should provide economic benefits for the community in the area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It will be up to the council to decide whether or not the proposals can go ahead.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765806968_986_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ebe61bc0-ad80-11ef-9f62-6112282576ba.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Daniel Wilcox Photography A gathering of white buildings next to a large loch with hills in the background\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>Daniel Wilcox Photography<\/p>\n<p>The new site sits near to Clatteringshaws Loch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Giancarlo RinaldiSouth Scotland reporter Marc Charron A lengthy search was undertaken to find a site to replace the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[270],"tags":[18,19,17,133,451],"class_list":{"0":"post-273836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-space"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115858715843056290","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}