‘Flood of shock and stress’ in Brora as residents realise 'super pylons' will be visible from village, beach, golf course and A9 and will cross Loch Brora
The route chosen by SSEN Transmission for its controversial new ‘super pylon’ line in the north Highlands has caused a ‘flood of shock and stress’ in the Brora community, it has been claimed.
Brora Community Council has sent a strongly-worded letter to the power company protesting the route selected in its area for the proposed 400kV overhead line which will run from Spittal to Beauly.
The letter has also been sent to MP Jamie Stone and the three East Sutherland and Edderton ward councillors.
The group says the 57-metre high pylons, to be built on hills to the north west of the village, will be visible from the village, the beach, the golf course and the A9 tourist route.
Local people are particularly angry that the pylon line crosses Loch Brora at a popular beauty spot near Carrol Rock, Strath Brora, as highlighted on the front page of the March 7 edition of the Northern Times.
Objectors say the pylons will ‘devastate’ the scenic area.
The community council, which says “the worst fears of our community have been exceeded”, is now making a last-ditch appeal to SSEN, which has just completed its second round of community consultations, to think again.
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Their letter states: “It is difficult to succinctly summarise the many issues that have been raised with us, but overall, we cannot underestimate the flood of shock and distress expressed at the burden of visual and environmental issues that your chosen alignment will impose on our local area.
“The Special Landscape Area (SLA), which almost defines our area and its visual attraction, will be riven by the selected route. Your proposals ignore a designation intended to protect against such developments.
“In terms of scenic value, two of the SLAs most notable features, Glen Loth, and Carrol Rock and Loch Brora, will be damaged beyond repair and devalued for our communities and visitors.”
The letter continues: “The Carrol Rock crossing is the key issue that this community has raised at each consultation stage without proper and detailed analysis of all alternative suggestions; accordingly, the community now believes that this crossing point is being imposed upon us.
“We are aware that for this intended crossing, undergrounding would not be practical and would not ultimately save this very special place from extreme visual damage.
“Our residents are the experts in how this place is enjoyed and experienced.
“We therefore ask, even at this late stage, that you take this back to the drawing board and look again at possible alternative crossing points without recourse to cost, convenience or easy proximity and putting this highly valued place before Class 2 peat, engineering difficulty or ancient woodlands.”
The letter concludes: “What is proposed will bring our area no tangible benefit; instead, it will take our valued places, debase what attracts our visitors, disregard our SLA designation and will both dominate and at the same time diminish the setting of our community.
“The right balance has not been found. There can be no possible financial compensation for this level of loss. We feel that a review of your plans for our area is warranted.”
