Green Light For Beauly-Denny Power Line

As was highlighted in the media, a controversial power line intended to stretch from the Scottish Highlands to Central Scotland has been given the go-ahead, with Scottish Ministers approving the upgrade of the 220km Beauly-Denny line.

The decision follows eight years of applications, consultations, and the largest public enquiry in Scotland since devolution, and comes despite fierce opposition from conservation groups. Extensive conditions, such as the creation of an environmental liaison group and a community liaison scheme, have been imposed to protect the interests of communities and minimise the impact on the environment along the line.

Alternatives?

Although alternatives to the overhead line were discussed, the Scottish Government's technical assessor highlighted that, for undergrounding cables "undergrounding has the potential to cause greater damage to ecology and nature conservation interests" and "underground cables are many times more expensive to