Caithness community councils join bid for joint voice on SSEN pylons plan
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Community councils in Caithness have joined others across the Highlands calling for SSEN to work with them to find the best solution to upgrade the region’s national grid.
The move follows controversy over SSEN’s plans to run a new 400kV line of “super pylons” from Spittal to Beauly.
The power company also intends to build massive new substations at Spittal, Loch Buidhe and Beauly.
Objectors have branded the public consultation inadequate.
Now a letter endorsed by 19 community councils including bodies for Halkirk; Latheron, Lybster and Clyth; and Watten has been sent to SSEN Transmission.
Signed by Ron McAulay, chairman of Strathpeffer Community Council, he writes: “Each of these community councils understands the need to move to green sources of energy and realise that to do so, will involve strengthening or reinforcing the national grid. That is accepted.“It is not the principle of reinforcing the grid that is in dispute. It is the method by which that will be achieved that is being challenged.”
He stated that greater consideration should have been given to utilising existing power line corridors, laying subsea cables and burying the cables.
He slammed the current consultation process as “lacking any credibility” and stated it had not adhered to SSEN’s own principles to “deliver stakeholder consultation”.
And he added: “The contributors to this letter are offering you the opportunity to form a forum of community councils through which options and issues could be discussed and addressed.
“We firmly believe that SSEN should clearly set out the criteria used for assessing routes and the weighting given to each criteria.
“This remit should be revisited and the design process stopped and only restarted at such time as the views of the communities that are directly affected have been taken on board.”
