Residents of a small Argyll village who fear they will soon be surrounded by pylons are celebrating a small victory.
The No More Pylons in Dalmally group has been campaigning against the Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) proposals for six years.
They do not want their village to be “imprisoned” by pylons.
Argyll and Bute councillors went against the advice of their own planning officers this week. Their objection to the project has triggered a public hearing.
The power company hopes to install eight miles of overhead line with 48 steel towers. But there are already 29 pylons in Dalmally.
A monument to the 18th Century Gaelic Poet Duncan Ban McIntyre is also sited nearby.
‘Community is already blighted’
Lisa Beckett of No More Pylons said: “The community here is already blighted by the proximity of these Scottish Power pylons to our beautiful countryside, homes, primary school and children’s play areas.
“It is already an unacceptable situation and SSEN’s proposed new line will effectively imprison Dalmally between two giant rows of pylons.
“We are appalled and outraged that our health and livelihoods are so carelessly dismissed for the sake of these power companies’ profits. We welcome the council’s decision to reject these proposals.”
This requires consent from the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit (ECU).
As a statutory consultee, the council’s planning committee was consulted at its meeting on Wednesday.
Councillors reject officers’ advice
Chairman Kieron Green went against the planning officers’ advice. He brought forward a motion to object to the plan, which was carried unanimously.
He said: “I consider it important that all proposals are assessed against the approved Local Development Plan. The adverse impacts, including on the setting of the Duncan Ban monument, and the ancient woodland along parts of the route, were highlighted as part of assessment by officers.
“Members considered that these were sufficient enough, and contrary to Local Development Plan policies, for the council to submit an objection.”
Glenorchy and Innishail Community Council has objected to the proposal, submitting a petition signed by 215 people.
Sue Rawcliffe of the community council said: “We are very happy because it has been a long hard struggle for people here. We are a small community up against a big multi national company. At least we feel now that there will be proper scrutiny of the proposals.
“It has been a huge community effort. We have been fighting this since 2016. We were beginning to think we were banging our head off a wall. This gives us hope there may be another way forward.
‘Trying to make our voice heard’
“We are sure there is a route we can all agree on. This isn’t the right route.
“The overall feeling here is we are going to be encompassed by pylons.”
Council planners felt the overall development would not have a significant impact on the landscape.
A spokeswoman for SSEN said: “We are disappointed by Argyll and Bute Council planning committee’s decision to object to our Section 37 application for the Creag Dhubh-Dalmally overhead line.
“We remain committed to work constructively with all stakeholders to minimise the impact of this decision on new renewable generation connections across Argyll, which are key to enable the country’s transition to net zero emissions and support our future energy security.”
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