Campaigners over Spittal-Beauly pylon line press for 'co-design' process ahead of crunch public meeting in Strathpeffer
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
ROSS-SHIRE campaigners are pressing for a "co-design process" to oversee construction of a massive power infrastructure project they fear could damage a swathe of the Highlands for generations to come.
On the eve of a public meeting about the proposed Spittal-Beauly pylon line proposed by SSEN, campaigners are keen to press ensure their representations are heard loud and clear – and acted on.
SSEN meanwhile also issued a pre-meeting statement of its own earlier saying: “We would like to assure all stakeholders that we fully recognise the strength of feeling amongst the some and will do all we can to balance the views of local communities against the key environmental, technical and economic factors we have to consider in the development of this critical national infrastructure.
"Our team is currently considering all feedback received, including actively considering alternative routes and mitigation measures in areas of particular local sensitivity.
“We very much look forward to continuing to engage constructively with affected communities and wider stakeholders and are committed to work together to maximise the local economic opportunities and jobs this critical investment will unlock across the Highlands and beyond.”
RELATED: Energy company says its 'exploring alternatives'
Representatives of the company will attend and are expected to reflect on public feedback from the recent initial consultation, which closed in April.
Also in attendance will be Ian Blackford MP and Maree Todd MSP, to hear community concerns, and answer questions from local residents.
Initial public consultation on SSEN’s proposed Spittal-Beauly line received a “particularly high level of interest”, according to the company.
Campaigners though continue to demand that the project now become subject to a more open and collaborative process, run by a neutral third party.
“At a recent meeting between SSEN, along with Contin, Strathpeffer, Marybank and Strathconon Community Councils and local campaigners, the company appeared to have taken on board criticism of the initial consultation as rushed, heavy-handed, and deeply flawed”, said Dan Bailey of campaign group Strathpeffer and Contin Better Cable Route
(SCBCR).
“However it appears that communities affected by the newly announced Beauly-Peterhead line are now expressing similar sentiments. If lessons are being learned, as we are told, then this seems disappointing.
“While SSEN now seem more willing to at least discuss the concerns of residents along the Spittal-Beauly line, there is no guarantee that the impacts on the local economy, environment and quality of life will inform to any meaningful extent a new revised proposal.”
Immediate oversight of the project remains in the hands of the company tasked with delivering it, point out campaigners, while it’s not clear which system-wide decisions are being made by the regulator, Ofgem, and Scottish and UK Ministers.
“SSEN cannot be allowed to mark their own homework”, said Bailey.
According to campaigners, the approach taken by SSEN and policy makers undermines the Scottish Government’s commitment to a Just Transition to Net Zero that takes account of the concerns of communities affected by new infrastructure, and runs counter to principles underpinning National Grid’s Holistic Network Design, which states that the community and environmental impact of transmission network infrastructure must be assessed early in the process.
He went on: “The Scottish Government has bold ambitions for decarbonising the electricity grid as part of the drive to net zero, a process that – we are told - is guided by principles of a Just Transition.
“But we have heard from SSEN that their proposed routes don’t yet consider community impacts, and – incredibly – that they don’t even know how to incorporate human factors into their route options. When 21 out of 24 community councils are expressing grave concerns about the handling of this project, local communities are united in opposition to the plans on the table, and we’re all wondering if anything has been learned since ‘Beauly to Denny’, I think we’re entitled to ask: 'when is this Just Transition going to start?'”
SCBCR claim that the public has been given inadequate explanation of Spittal-Beauly’s place within the overall upgrade to the electricity grid in Northern Scotland designed to carry increasing amounts of energy to southern markets, while there has been little public discussion of the further projected increases in renewable capacity and transmission infrastructure slated for the decades after 2030.
Bailey added: “Now that SSEN have revealed the next leg of the system, from Beauly to Peterhead, isn’t it time the energy industry and policy makers were straight with the public on the full scope and scale of what is planned for the Highlands?
“It’s quite feasible that at some unspecified future point we end up with two Spittal-Beauly lines. One, in its current proposed routing, would be disastrous enough.”
He went on: “As a nation we appear to lack a strategic plan for renewable energy development and are allowing power companies to drive the process in a piecemeal and undirected fashion.
“While parent company SSE are planning to build new windfarms that they will want to be connected via Spittal-Beauly, SSEN itself is more a reactive organisation than one afforded the guidance of a strategic overall vision.
“We think it’s essential that there now be a pause in the development of Spittal-Beauly and the other new transmission lines in the Highlands, while we establish a more collaborative and far more public appraisal of the full extent of future needs, the changes these will require, and where the various proposed overhead lines will fit into the overall picture.
“The Scottish Government ought to take on a more directive role, and ensure that the interests of all stakeholders are represented around the table. That’s what government should be for.”
Some campaigners in the Highlands would like to see an independent review and say they will keep pressing to ensure that SSEN and the Scottish Government listen to Strathpeffer, Contin, and other Highland communities facing the threat of huge new pylons.
Mr Bailey said: “What’s needed now is a co-design process bringing together all stakeholders to oversee the entire grid upgrade from conception to completion” said Dan Bailey “with all options on the table from the outset.”
A Strathpeffer and Contin SSEN pylon consultation public meeting is being held on Thursday, May 18 at The Pavilion in Strathpeffer.
