The Beauly-Denny Landscape Group issued the following press release today:

Highland Landscape: Too Valuable to Lose

An alliance of Scotland’s leading environmental organisations urges Government to reconsider its reported intention to give the Beauly Denny power line the go ahead.

The Beauly Denny Landscape Group, which is made up of the National Trust for Scotland, the Ramblers Association Scotland, John Muir Trust, Mountaineering Council of Scotland, the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland and the Scottish Wild Land Group, will write to Ministers to remind them of alternatives to the proposed power line.

“We are deeply disappointed by reports in the press this week that the Government is set to approve a project that will be hugely damaging to some of Scotland’s best-loved landscapes,” said Kate Mavor, Chief Executive of the National Trust for Scotland. “We believe firmly that there are viable alternatives to the proposed power line that will provide sufficient transmission to meet Scotland’s renewable targets – particularly in view of technological advances since the public inquiry.”

The Beauly Denny Landscape Group, which represents more than 400,000 members, will stress to Ministers that it believes the requirement from on-shore wind developments can be met by reinforcing the existing East Coast line – an option that it claims would cause far less environmental destruction. It will also remind the Scottish Government that sub-sea cables are now recognised by the industry as the best way of transporting electricity over long distances.

“If this goes ahead it will be a victory for spin and lobbying, ignoring the facts,” said John Hutchison, the Chairman of the John Muir Trust. “Just because the Beauly Denny line is the most lucrative option for the energy industry, doesn’t make it the right choice for Scotland.”

The Beauly Denny Landscape Group is concerned at the pace at which natural landscapes are being eroded. Research published by SNH last year confirms that a quarter of Scotland’s wild landscape has been lost in the past six years. VisitScotland reported that 59 per cent of surveyed visitors cited scenery as the main reason for coming to Scotland in 2008.

If approved, the Beauly Denny pylon line will pass through the Cairngorms National Park in the heart of the Highlands, and run straight past the Wallace Monument. The proposed 400kV transmission line is 220 kilometres long, from Beauly in the north Highlands, to Denny, Stirlingshire, in the south. The pylon line will use approximately 600 steel lattice towers, mostly between 50 and 56m tall, with some reaching 65m tall.

“Wind, tidal and wave energy may be renewable but Scotland’s precious landscapes are a finite resource. It is not too late for the Scottish Government to demonstrate leadership and be remembered for acting to protect the landscapes that define Scotland and its people in the Year of the Homecoming,” added Mr Hutchison.