Salmond urged to reject pylon plan

Conservation group concerned at impact of new power line on Cairngorms

By Iain Ramage

Published:

A leading US environment group has urged First Minister Alex Salmond to reject the controversial proposals for replacing many of the existing pylons on the Beauly-Denny power line with far bigger structures.

The Scottish Government’s verdict on a year-long public inquiry into Scottish and Southern Energy’s plans, which triggered 18,000 objections, is expected to be announced by Christmas.

The influential American environmental organisation, Sierra Club, has written to Mr Salmond to add its concerns.

Its vice-president, Richard Cellarius, is particularly worried about the potential impact on the Cairngorms National Park.

“For more than 117 years,” he writes, “Sierra Club has worked to protect national parks from incursions that mar the native fauna and flora for which these parks were originally established.

“I trust you recognise that Cairngorms National Park is an important site preserving Scotland’s national heritage.”

Mr Cellarius recalls how he and his wife had walked the hills in the park and that it would “pain me and my memories of my Glasgow-born grandfather to think that such scenes were marred by a long row of power-line pylons”.

The organisation calls on the Scottish Government to “abandon plans” for a new Beauly-Denny pylon line through the park and opt for “more environmentally benign alternatives.”

The Sierra Club was founded in 1892 by Scottish-born environmentalist John Muir and has almost 750,000 members in the US and Canada.

Scotland’s own John Muir Trust charity is among a plethora of organisations and councils which objected to the plans.

The energy giant wants to erect 600 pylons, up to 200ft tall, between Beauly in Inverness-shire and Denny in Stirlingshire.

Supporters say the replacement line is essential for transmitting power from future wind, wave and tidal projects in the north.