The owner of the landmark Carbisdale Castle is considering legal action to stop plans for a major power line.
Samantha Kane says the work will threaten a £10 million renovation project.
Ms Kane bought the castle last year and has already spent more than the £1.2 million asking price on refurbishing the building and surrounding woods.
But she says the proposed overhead line would destroy her “legacy project” and risk the castle become a ruin.
Campaigners trying to stop power line plans
SSEN plans to route a new 400KV overhead line between Spittal in Caithness and Beauly.
It is part of a proposed £7 billion upgrade to the network to connect renewables projects and support the drive towards net zero.
It also includes a new transmission line from Beauly to Peterhead and three new substations for Beauly, Spittal and Loch Buidhe, in Sutherland.
Residents and campaign groups are trying to stop the plans and claim the consultation process has been flawed.
Ms Kane, a London barrister, says she was not invited to a consultation meeting in Bonar Bridge in February.
“I’m looking at the legality of this action because I was not informed about the meeting and none of my neighbours knew about it.
“Whatever happened at that meeting will be challenged because Culrain and Carbisdale Castle were by-passed completely.
“I feel that Carbisdale Castle and the surrounding forest are being sold down the river. We should have known about this route and been consulted.”
She says one of the route options comes too close to the castle and has written to SSEN urging it to choose an alternative.
Another option is to bury the cables “without sabotaging the aesthetic effect of the castle and its immediate surroundings”.
Recreating the style of a duchess
Ms Kane, now known as Lady Samantha Kane of Carbisdale, said: “If I don’t succeed, there is a legal remedy such as a judicial review.”
Her vision is to recreate the castle in the style of Mary Caroline, Duchess of Sutherland, who had Carbisdale built between 1905 and 1917.
It will include a museum and library that is eventually planned to open to the public and become an attraction for the area.
“But all this would be destroyed by power lines that would be so big and unsightly. They would affect an area of beauty, the architecture and heritage.
“The castle would end up going into ruin again and be destroyed forever.
“Looking out my window, I think how can anyone butcher this landscape which is a sanctuary away from human activities?”
A new campaign group, Communities B4 Power Companies, has been formed to try to stop the plans.
It says they will cause the “industrialisation” of communities around Beauly where a converter station is also being proposed to connect to powerlines from the Western Isles.
A public meeting has been arranged on April 7 in Kiltarlity.
Another public meeting will be held in Strathpeffer at the end of May or beginning of June.
Ron McAulay of Strathpeffer Community Council said: “It is important that no decisions are made on preferred routes until that meeting has been held and the community has had the chance to get answers to their questions and have been given the opportunity to express their views on the proposals.
“We now urge SSEN to begin a proper and meaningful community engagement and discussion of all route options available.”
Consultation ‘seriously flawed’
Campaign group Strathpeffer and Contin Better Cable Route is also calling on SSEN to improve its public consultation on the project.
It says public engagement to date has been “seriously flawed” and the consultation process “unreasonably time-constrained”.
Dan Bailey, a member of the group, welcomed SSEN extending the consultation deadline until April 14 as a “minor concession”.
“This shows that SSEN are beginning to listen, and that their initial rushed approach was flawed.
“It also demonstrates the power of public pressure. When we know we’re in the right we can get things changed; we have hardly started yet.”
SSEN said ahead of the consultation events, leaflets were sent to over 29,800 properties along the route, along with newspaper and social media adverts and email-shots.
The consultation opened on February 20, initially for six weeks, has been extended to April 14.
A spokeswoman said: “We are seeking feedback on 1km wide areas, the feedback we receive will then inform the design work to identify potential routes.
“We will then seek feedback on these proposed routes towards the end of this year.
“We would like to confirm that route alignments have not yet been identified.”
She added: “It is essential we get as many views as possible so we can develop balanced proposals in collaboration with the local communities.”
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