Locals protesting SSEN's 108-mile Caithness-Beauly pylon plan brand consultation deadline 'undemocratic'

Campaigners angry about the rising number of renewable energy projects operating and proposed for the Highlands and Islands have condemned a Scottish Government deadline for consultation about a giant pylon line.

SSEN Transmission’s planning application for a new link between Spittal in Caithness and Beauly is now in the hands of ministers.

Objectors say a month to respond to the 248 documents and several thousand pages of technical material is “inadequate and undemocratic”.

A spokesman for SSEN said: “We have held more than 50 local consultation events and public meetings since early 2023 to inform the development of this project, and these helped to shape the final proposal.

“As a Scottish headquartered business, employing more than 2,500 people, we will always work to carry out our projects in partnership with the communities we serve.”

The proposed line would span almost 108 miles.

A raft of community councils and other residents across the Highlands have criticised the Scottish Government timescale and called for a public inquiry.

The consultation gives people until October 6 to submit their comments.

The rollout of large-scale energy infrastructure across northern Scotland is sparking debate over its local impact. STV News

Christine MacKintosh of Marybank, Scatwell and Strathconon Community Council said: “This timeframe is utterly inadequate to address a proposal of such scale and technicality.

“It shows how very little ‘the powers that be’ respect the people who will have to live with the outcome of this outrageous project for decades to come.”

She claimed the timescale was “clear proof that neither SSEN nor the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit have any interest in the public giving their opinions,” branding the consultation “utterly undemocratic”.

She wants Highland Council to submit a holding objection to trigger a public local inquiry.

John Heathcote of Contin Community Council said: “It is interesting to note that you get 21 days to respond when your neighbour proposes to erect a garage, and only 30 days when SSEN proposes to build a transmission line the length of the Highlands.”

Dan Bailey of campaign group Strathpeffer and Contin Better Cable Route said: “When it comes to ministerial access there appears to be one rule for developers and another for the local people expected to host the infrastructure.

“With huge resources at their disposal, SSEN have had years to prepare their planning application. And now, with no resources or expertise, communities are being given just four weeks to respond. It’s a shocking imbalance of power and influence.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said it does not comment on live planning applications.