FURIOUS DUNKELD residents are to campaign to remove a “carbuncle” being built beside one of Scotland’s most famous bridges.
Locals were shocked when construction work began on an electricity sub-station next to the iconic 200-year-old span built by Thomas Telford.
They say the station is “environmental vandalism” by one of the country’s richest firms, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE).
Resident, Frank Irvine (63) is mobilising opposition for what he brands a “little Dunkeld versus big business” battle.
He said: “It’s a complete desecration of the built environment. People come from all over the world to see Telford’s Bridge.”
Mr Irvine claims the siting of the sub-station will ruin the view residents and tourists alike have enjoyed of the distinctive arched bridge, which passes between his Little Dunkeld home and the main town.
SSE insists it is a vital piece of equipment for the town’s energy needs.
Mr Irvine, who has written to SSE chief executive Ian Marchant, said: “It’s not a small box, it’s huge. It’s environmental vandalism. To use Prince Charles’s terrible phrase, it’s a carbuncle.
“After the cathedral, Telford’s Bridge is Dunkeld and we’ve got this company that waxes on about being green and they’ve desecrated the approach to Telford’s Bridge.
“This company is making hundreds of millions of pounds of profit every year but there has been no public consultation whatsoever about the development.
“Any talk about corporate social responsibility goes out the window it’s just an aesthetic blot on the landscape.
“They started work on it two to three weeks ago and are still working on it just now.
“Something needs to be done because it is just appalling. You can see the body language of visitors as they approach, and they’re saying, ‘How can that be allowed to happen?’
“We want this removed and re-sited. It won’t cost anything in terms of profit for them to move it to another location.
“I don’t understand how they have been allowed to come in and proceed no more than 10 yards from one of Scotland’s most iconic buildings.
“I will be writing to the chief executive of SSE demanding it is moved and warning him there will be a campaign.
“It’s big business against little Dunkeld.”
Nan Johnston, chair of Dunkeld and Birnam community council, said SSE had not consulted properly and she had only found out about the transformer when the land owner, Atholl Estates, contacted her.
She said: “It is ugly. It may have been naivety, but we thought it would be a low-lying box to house the electrical equipment.
“They could have put a bit more thought into where they were siting it.
“The previous one was low down towards the river and beside the trees and, even though there were overhead lines, it was in keeping.
“This is very raw and prominent.”
A spokesperson for SSE said: “We have a small development of houses being built around Bruce Gardens and to facilitate the upgrade we had to build a sub-station, three metres by three metres. It is an essential upgrade for the people in the town.
“There is a procedure we have to go through by asking permission of the landowner and community council and we have done that. We are very sorry that Mr Irvine feels the way he does.”
She pointed out that the company has recently, through a worker volunteer scheme, removed overhead lines from the children’s orchard in the area to make it safer and more attractive.
“We understand there are concerns, which makes us think we have to tell more people what we are doing there,” she said.
“Because it was voluntary, we didn’t want to be seen to be blowing our own trumpets. It was done with the best of intentions for the good of the community.”
arichardson@thecourier.co.uk