Beauly power line battle reaches climax

Published on Saturday 21 February 2009 18:40

PLANS for a controversial power line through some of the most scenic parts of Scotland will be delayed by another year unless ministers give it the go-ahead by the end of next month, it has been claimed.

The Scottish Government has been urged to make a quick decision to upgrade the Beauly-Denny power transmission line that its supporters see as essential if Scotland is to transform itself into a world leader in renewable energy.

Scottish and Southern Energy, the electricity company that wants to build the 137-mile overhead line between Beauly, near Inverness, and Denny, near Stirling, has warned that missing a March deadline would mean the line would not be completed until 2013.

If ministers waited until after March before granting permission, the company has claimed that a whole summer of construction would be lost, making it impossible for the current completion date of October 2012 to be met.

Last week the Scottish Government said a decision would be made "later this year" when ministers were given a six-volume report on the 320m project, which has attracted more than 17,000 objections.

Lewis MacDonald, Labour's energy spokesman, said: " They need to pull out all the stops to free up this national energy supply."

Those who are for the development that will see the erection of 600 pylons through the Cairngorms and Southern Highlands claim it is essential to bring electricity generated by wind, tidal and wave stations in the remote parts of Scotland to the Central Belt.

Critics say it will ruin the landscape and claim the pylons will create health risks.

Opponents of the project are meeting today to step up their campaign over the coming weeks.

Peter Pearson of Scotland Before Pylons said:

"It would be outrageous if ministers only take a month to make a decision on such a controversial application, which has had the largest number of objections ever."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "There has to be due process and I don't think you can put a timetable on that."