A campaigner says Angus must wake up to ‘super pylons’ which could run across the county in a major infrastructure upgrade.
SSEN plans to replace existing 275kV capacity pylons with towers averaging 55 metres high to carry the 400kV overhead lines.
But there is increasing resistance to the project, which would run 70 miles through Aberdeenshire and Angus.
The route would run through fertile farmland to a substation at Tealing, near Dundee.
A Laurencekirk protest meeting last weekend was attended by hundreds of people.
And online campaign groups have been set up to fight the proposal.
Caterthuns impact
Ken Allison, who lives outside Brechin, says the plan should be immediately halted for proper consultation with affected communities.
The pylons could stand almost twice as tall as Scotland’s Kelpies.
They will skirt the Angus Caterthuns – Iron Age hill forts which Ken’s home looks towards.
“These pylons are going to run 250 metres past my back door,” said the 60-year old former Royal Marine.
“Yet we knew nothing about this scheme until a few weeks ago.
“I just think the community aspect has been handled appallingly.
“This will cross the A90 and run around the back of Forfar and I am sure people there aren’t aware of the scale of it.
“I feel so strongly about this that if I could I would give up work for a year to fight this.
“I don’t generally get involved in this sort of stuff, but this is just abuse of our communities.
“We have been here for 20 years, it has been a fantastic family home.
“But we are going to be in the shadow of these things – they will be the first thing we see in the morning and the last thing we see before we go to sleep.
“And they are not some dot on the horizon, these things are enormous.
“We are going to see them and we are going to hear them.”
Mearns campaigners fear the impact on landscape made famous by Sunset Song author Lewis Grassic Gibbon.
‘Horizon of realisation’
Ken says he feels the alternative options of underground cables or a sea route have been too readily dismissed.
“SSEN are at the stage of marking out the road nearby for the preferred route just a few hundred yards away,” he added.
“If they have reached that stage then they really should be knocking on our doors.
“The horizon of realisation has emerged for me – but there are still a lot of people who don’t know anything about it.
“The whole thing needs to be stopped now.
“This is going to impact quality of life for people right down the east coast, and their mental and physical wellbeing.
“It’s being sold as a done deal.
“SSEN need to engage properly and the Scottish Government have to answer that.”
Consultation extended
The energy giant hopes to begin work on the four-year project in 2026.
A dedicated project website has been set up.
A spokesperson for SSEN Transmission said: “The Kintore- Fiddes -Tealing 400kV project is part of a GB-wide programme of works required to meet UK and Scottish Government 2030 net zero and energy security targets.
“We are currently at the early stages of development and are seeking feedback on potential route options and substation location.
“Given the extent of interest in the project and in direct response to requests from the community, we have extended the consultation period by two weeks.
“We would encourage anyone with an interest in the project to provide their feedback by Friday June 23.
“We would like to thank everyone who has shared their feedback so far, which will be carefully considered as we further refine our plans.”
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