A CONTROVERSIAL pylon scheme in Galloway has been approved by government officials, much to the shock of residents.
The Kendoon to Tongland scheme was given the green light at a public inquiry last Friday after a lengthy planning process and despite hundreds of objections from residents and the government’s own Reporters recommending refusal.
Ministers decided that protecting energy supplies for about 30,000 residents meant the project should proceed as the current network was constructed in the 1930s and is considered to be at the end of its life.
They noted it will mean the loss of “a significant area of irreplaceable woodland”, but attached conditions requiring a woodland planting strategy to address this.
However, they also accepted it was an impact that cannot be fully mitigated and considered that greater weight must be applied to the need for and benefits of the proposed development.
And they concluded: “The public interest lies in the need for the urgent upgrade of strategic electricity transmission infrastructure.”
So, the 27-mile long pylon scheme will stretch from the Kendoon substation, through Galloway Forest Park to the Tongland substation near Kirkcudbright.
But the decision has met with a blistering attack from Galloway and West MSP Finlay Carson, who described it as a “blatant disregard” for local opinion and vowed to raise the issue at the Scottish Parliament at the earliest opportunity.
He said: “This decision is both shocking and unwanted, given the strong public opinion and opposition to this proposal.
“It demonstrates complete disrespect to the views of the people in Galloway who have been clear from the outset that they were seeking alternative options to pylons spoiling their beautiful countryside.
“Why did the Scottish Government ignore this as well as the decision by the public inquiry Reporter to refuse the application?
“For Scottish Ministers to simply over-rule that decision makes a complete mockery of holding a public inquiry in the first place. Was it simply a charade?”
Mr Carson believes the decision sends a strong message to rural communities and added: “It is quite clear that local opinion doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter what an independent public inquiry Reporter thinks, the Scottish Government is going to push on regardless.
“This isn’t democracy at work, it is just a box ticking exercise with Scottish Ministers not interested in what the local community thinks, pushing on whatever.
“I intend to raise this matter at Holyrood.
“Campaigners were right in demanding that certain sections of the power lines should be buried underground between Kendoon and Tongland
“Even the findings of the public inquiry recommended that the plan by SP Energy be refused on environmental grounds. But the Scottish Government is now simply riding rough-shod over this.”
