Public rejects power line disguise plans

THE people of Stirling have rejected proposals by ScottishPower to reduce the impact on the countryside of the Beauly to Denny power line upgrade.

More than 200 people gathered at Wallace High School in Stirling to take part in a public meeting where ScottishPower Transmission’s (SPT) proposals were widely criticised.

The Scottish Government has asked ScottishPower to come up with ways to mitigate against the impact of the line. The energy giant has proposed masking it with shrubs and painting some of the pylons so that they blend in with the background.

Stirling Council, which called Monday night’s public meeting, wants the line buried underground. The council’s power line steering group chairman Callum Campbell urged local people to write to their MSPs to make their objections known.

“Pylons are old technology,” he said. “SPT need to renew their ideas. The way forward is for these lines to be buried underground.”

He added: “When you have 50m-high towers, I’m afraid planting trees and painting the pylons is not effective visual mitigation.”

The council will present feedback from the meeting to the government on 14 October.