Why are Scotland’s landscapes less worthy of protection, the John Muir Trust asks

A wilderness conservation charity said the decision not to bury the power lines in a section of the controversial Beauly to Denny scheme shows the regulator Ofgem is failing to protect Scotland’s landscape.

ScottishPower today announced it would not consider ‘undergrounding’ the line in the Stirling area but would, instead, paint pylons and use landscaping and planting of trees to reduce the visual impact of the power line, which will have up to 600 pylons, some as high as 60m (200ft).

ScottishPower, which is responsible for the proposed 20km (12 miles) of line in the Stirling area, had been told to undertake a ‘visual impact mitigation consultation’. It has agreed only to bury some minor, lower-voltage wires.

The John Muir Trust, which campaigns for wild lands, said Ofgem made a serious mistake in agreeing to the Beauly-Denny proposal in 2005 and that the power companies cannot risk going back to the regulator with even marginal, increased costs as the economic case cannot be made in 2010.

Helen McDade, JMT head of policy, said: “The trust is not surprised by this latest development. We believe that the power companies cannot risk reopening the cost-benefit discussion.

“Evidence, which was not taken account of properly by the Public Local Inquiry Reporters or by Scottish ministers, shows that alternative routes for transmission – both subsea and the East Coast route – could take this electricity without the major environmental and social impacts of Beauly-Denny.

“These were dismissed as too expensive. However, it is becoming clear that subsea cables are the preferred option for taking electricity from Scotland to England and that undergrounding is being considered, by Ofgem, as justified in national parks in England and for London, for the Olympics.

“What is it that makes Scotland’s landscapes less worthy of protection?

“It is likely that ScottishPower cannot concede some undergrounding as this would require going back to Ofgem and, now more than ever, the economic case for an overhead line cannot be made. We believe a re-assessment in the light of current costs and technological advances would show that Scotland’s transmission needs can be met without the Beauly Denny line.”

ScottishPower said it considered a number of other visual and landscape mitigation options but concluded these were not appropriate. Either they did not improve the visual amenity, benefit the landscape or the cost could not be justified against ScottishPower’s statutory and licence duties – given the decision of the Scottish Minister or the sometimes limited visual and landscape benefit, it said.

Frank Mitchell, ScottishPower energy networks director, said: “In approving the upgraded power line in January, Scottish ministers accepted that the proposed route was both logical and justified. This approved route was established through extensive planning and in-depth studies in order to find the most suitable location for the transmission line from a technical and environmental perspective.

“The further studies undertaken as part of the report consider the terms of the condition attached to the consent for the transmission line, the Scottish ministers’ subsequent briefing note as well as a number of other measures suitable to contribute to a visual mitigation scheme.

“The measures in the report have been identified following a balancing of environmental, technical and cost considerations.

“The publication of the report provides an opportunity for ScottishPower to share its proposals for the visual and landscape mitigation as well as listen to the local communities and stakeholders.”

The proposed Beauly to Denny power line, which will see the present-day lines upgraded to 400kV, has been hugely controversial, with the Scottish National Party government, Scottish Green Party and Scottish Labour supporting the scheme but outdoor groups such as Ramblers Scotland, the Mountaineering Council of Scotland and the John Muir Trust vehemently against. MCofS president Chris Townsend said after the January announcement: “The pylon line will damage the precious and irreplaceable Scottish mountain landscape.”