Strathpeffer and Contin Better Cable Route campaigners urge Scottish Government to learn lessons of HPMA climbdown in ongoing SSEN power line row
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ROSS-SHIRE campaigners concerned about the impact of a new network of power lines are calling on the Scottish Government to learn the lessons of the ill-fated HPMA saga.
Strathpeffer and Contin Better Cable Route (SCBCR) – set up in response to energy distribution company SSEN's proposals for a new high capacity network across the region – made its remarks in the wake of the climbdown over Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs).
The Scottish Government previously said it would not bulldoze through plans vigorously opposed by the communities affected and claimed it had responded to those concerns in rethinking the HPMA plans many feared would adversely affect livelihoods.
Plans for a new 400kV overhead power line traversing a massive swathe of Ross-shire in linking up new renewable energy assets to the national grid have been the source of debate for months.
READ ALSO: Scottish Government throws out plans for HPMAs
'No decisions' on overhead line routes says SSEN
SCBCR's Dan Bailey said: "Environmental policies emanating from Holyrood are going to have enormous impacts in northern Scotland. But the people at the sharp end of these changes are not being afforded the basic democratic right to meaningful involvement.
“However good the intentions behind HPMAs, last week’s climbdown shows that the way Ministers sought to bring about their policy was flawed, because sufficient efforts were not made from the outset to consult properly with the communities most affected.
“The same casual attitude to rural concerns is evident in the Scottish Government’s policy on new renewable energy and the huge transmission infrastructure that this will require. Faced with the prospect of giant pylon lines in their communities, people rightly feel that their environment and economy are under threat.
“Ministers speak of the importance of community engagement, but instead of spelling out what this actually entails offer just platitudes. Meanwhile SSEN are being allowed to plough ahead with their plans, under minimal oversight and with inadequate local consultation. This vacuum in governance and accountability is taking place on the Scottish Government’s watch.”
The group says promises that Scotland’s transition to Net Zero – cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere – will bring many skilled jobs to the Highlands have yet to bear significant fruit, while energy industry profits and most supply chain benefits are going overseas.
However, proposals to build a series of major pylon lines in northern Scotland will inevitably have a detrimental impact on the area’s existing tourism economy, say campaigners.
A number of businesses agree.
“Visitors come to the Highlands of Scotland expecting a wild landscape” said Philip Armshaw, who runs Crystal House, a boutique hotel in Strathpeffer.
“The growth of industrial scale wind farms both offshore and onshore has already turned parts of the Highlands into an increasingly human-made landscape. The proposed routes for mega-pylons connecting these power stations to the demand further south will serve to intensify the urbanisation and destroy that sense of wild exploration that many tourists crave as an antidote to urban living.
“Access to high quality natural landscapes is one of the cornerstones of wellbeing. Crystal House Retreat is a wellbeing-centred tourism business. For businesses like ours, the fleeting job creation whilst the pylons are built would be outweighed by decades of fewer visitors as people move to other areas that retain the essential qualities of wildness.
“If the power line was buried it would create a similar number of jobs during its installation, and through appropriate routing give opportunities for biodiversity gain that might even enhance the wildness of the Highlands."
The transition to Net Zero has to be a process carried out in collaboration people and businesses, say campaigners, not an imposition upon them.
“New power lines and wind farms in the Highlands need to be planned and executed via a co-design process involving all stakeholders, and with proper regard to our vital visitor economy, the livelihoods that rely on it and the environment and unspoilt landscapes that underpin it” said Dan Bailey.
“The shift to a fairer, greener country is too important to allow it to degenerate into a battle between people and power companies, or rural Scotland versus an urban political establishment. Let’s not repeat the flawed and high-handed approach that brought HPMAs to an impasse.”
Ross-shire SNP MSP Maree Todd previously pledged to maintain dialogue with SSEN following widespread concern about the proposals.
She said then: "On the correspondence I have received from constituents on SSEN’s proposals, there is an acknowledgement of the need to upgrade the grid to enable renewable power generation expansion in the north Highlands."
She said she had received promises from SSEN that they would take on board feedback from communities, adding: “It is vital that local voices are heard, so I would urge those living in the impacted communities to participate in the consultation.
“I will continue to engage with SSEN on this matter to ensure the impacted communities are listened to.”
