Highland campaigners fear plans for a new power line will “trash the Highlands.”
Protest groups across the north are attempting to halt plans by SSEN for a new 400kV overhead line between Spittal in Caithness and Beauly, and from Beauly to Peterhead.
The venture forms part of a £7 billion upgrade to the transmission network to connect renewables projects and support the drive towards net zero.
Campaigners fear the venture would “bulldoze local economies” and spoil swathes of woodland surrounding rural communities while ruining people’s lives.
Many complained about the way SSEN had handled the process and feared the project would have a detrimental impact on rural communities.
SSEN officials apologised for not getting the consultation right and stressed all alternative routes and substation locations were being deliberated in depth.
The firm aims to submit applications for the lines by November next year.
‘We think that there are better alternatives’
Speaking on today’s BBC’s Good Morning Scotland (GMS), Dan Bailey from Strathpeffer and Contin Better Cable Route Group called for the line to be moved offshore to prevent SSEN from “trashing the Highlands.”
He said: “We think that there are better alternatives than blazing these old-fashioned, giant, overhead pylon lines through our communities and we are slightly worried about the impact on the local tourist industry, among many other things.
“We have discussed with the company, first off, the alternative of rooting this entire thing under the sea. In future, the big gains in renewable energy are going to be offshore, miles offshore, so our first question is, “Why on earth are we not rooting this entire thing in the first instance, in the plans, under the sea along with many of the other cables that are planned for this new grid upgrade?”
“Another alternative would be to use the existing pylon line corridors along the coast where extensively the damage is already done, so a new line of pylons there would have less of a cumulative impact than putting a new line somewhere completely different.
“Climate change is incredibly serious but it’s not an excuse to build infrastructure on the cheap and trash the Highlands.”
The £7b project involves building three substations for Beauly, Spittal and Loch Buidhe in Sutherland.
The plans have prompted the creation of several campaign groups, including the Strathpeffer and Contin Better Cable Route Group and Communities B4 Power Companies.
In March, local campaigners said they are ready to mount legal and planning challenges against the controversial plans.
‘They are not going to bulldoze local economies’
Mr Bailey says he is optimistic that a reliable solution will be found as he calls for oversight of the multi-million-pound venture.
He added: “We are small communities against a multi-national company with big deep pockets and powerful lobbyists but despite the odds, I am optimistic that we will find a solution to ensure that we get value for money and they are not going to bulldoze local economies.
“We are calling for oversight of this entire project to be taken away from this company and put in the hands of a neutral third party and bring all stakeholders together in an open process that would take this project from conception all the way through to completion.”
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