LOCAL MSP WELCOMES BEAULY/DENNY PYLON DECISION

DECISION WILL SEE REMOVAL OF OVER 200 EXISTING PYLONS

Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber MSP, Fergus Ewing, has welcomed this week’s announcement by the Scottish Government to approve the upgrade of the Beauly to Denny powerline.
"The decision to approve the upgrade of the Beauly to Denny line was taken by  Scottish Government Minister, Jim Mather, after careful consideration.    That decision will allow Scotland to achieve the potential we have in renewable energy - a potential which may be greater than any other nation on this earth. It will enable the removal of the existing lines, and over 200 existing pylons.  The new line will run along the majority of the existing route.  Its construction will create or secure hundreds of jobs - and I hope that this will be welcomed even by those who opposed the plan.
 The decision was not an easy one. As someone who has in my time, climbed most of the high mountains in Scotland, and loves our wilderness areas, the perfect number of pylons in a perfect world would be zero. I do not enjoy seeing them - and I don't know anyone who does. However, if we are to see the unlocking of Scotland's potential as a green powerhouse, there must be a means of conveying and transporting that energy to the market. We need to find replacements for fossil fuels, and that energy needs to be conveyed to where it is needed. These simple truths force upon us measures which instinctively we recoil from, but which are nonetheless necessary ones.
 It is now up to the company to produce detailed proposals for what they will do to mitigate the impact of the power line on the environment. Approval is still dependent on a range of conditions that take into account some of the concerns expressed by those who objected.
I would also suggest that the mountains will in any event outlive both us and outlive the pylons themselves which, whilst they will be constructed, can also in years to come  be demolished, as new technology will no doubt render them obsolete.  However, they will be required in our life time and I support the decision, as do all the political parties in Holyrood.”