Home builder awaits Holyrood decision on energy giant dispute

Published on Friday 8 October 2010 16:23

ENERGY giant Scottish Power has turned to government ministers for permission to continue routing giant electricity cables through a patch of private ground, blocking the land's owner from building a family home on the site.

Engineer Wallace Frame spent all his savings on buying the site, near Gilmore Street Station in Paisley, six years ago - but has been unable to begin building work after the discovery of 16 high voltage cables running under the ground.

He has since launched a "David and Goliath" battle against the company in a bid to force them to move the cables, which provide power to Glasgow Airport and around 10,000 homes in the area.

But now the power company has submitted evidence to Scottish Government reporters in a bid to win legal permission to leave the cables in place.

"This could just go on forever," said Mr Frame, who says he has spent more than 100,000 on buying the land and carrying out surveys in order to obtain planning permission for a new home for himself and his wife - as well as two other flats to help fund the project.

"I have spent a lot of money on this and now I can't develop the land, or sell it on. I am not a professional developer - this was meant to be a one-off development, somewhere for me to live.

"This puts me in a no-win situation - I feel it could drag on for the rest of my life."

The inquiry, known as a "wayleave" hearing, was held in Paisley last week. Scottish Government reporters have passed the evidence to Ministers, who will issue a verdict over the next few months.

If the Ministers decide in Scottish Power's favour and the company can leave the cables in place, it will still be forced to pay compensation to Mr Frame for the period that it uses his land.

Mr Frame - who lives in Edinburgh but grew up in Paisley, close to the site - claims the cables, which are believed to have been put in in the 1960s, were not noted on the deeds of the property.

"I have to wait for the decision now," he added. "But I've not been given any indication of how much compensation I would be likely to get or when."

Experts have claimed that any previous "wayleave" should have been renegotiated when Mr Frame bought the land.

"The evidence will be reported back to Ministers and they will take a final decision on whether Scottish Power will be able to be retain its infrastructure," said a spokesman for the Scottish Government. "This decision will be announced in due course."

A spokesman for Scottish Power added: "There is an ongoing process with Mr Frame and the wayleave hearing is now in the hands of reporters."