Beauly to Denny transmission line: Questions still remain over tourism impact

Published on Thursday 7 January 2010 21:51

THE Beauly to Denny inquiry reporters were unable to gauge the likely impact on tourism of the massive power line expansion, according to their report.

The reporters said they found the evidence on the likely impact on tourism "unsatisfactory".

"The objectors rely on a VisitScotland survey on public attitudes to wind farms, and the responses to prompted questions need to be viewed with caution," they said.

"On the other hand, the applicants place weight on a survey of businesses after the construction of a transmission line in Ayrshire, but due to the differences in the nature of the tourism economy and other factors we do not regard the circumstances as comparable."

They added that they thought the power line would have an impact on more than 100 "land interests", and that the impact would be "significant" on 14 of them.

However, they did not think it would have an impact on film-makers, and whether they were likely to be attracted to locations along the route of the power line.