Following last month’s public meeting at which plans to reduce the visual impact of the Beauly to Denny powerline around Stirling were voted down, the Council has formally rejected the plans and branded them “inadequate and ineffective”.
The Scottish Government has approved the line of the power route but asked Scottish Power and Stirling Council to work together to come up with plans to mitigate the effect of the planned giant pylons in the area around Stirling and the Wallace Monument.
Scottish Power put forward plans which involved painting the pylons to blend in with the surroundings and planting to try to shield them. At the time these plans were slammed by the chair of the Council’s Power Line steering group, Councillor Calum Campbell, who said, “When you have 50 metre high towers, I’m afraid planting trees and painting the pylons is not effective visual mitigation.”
A meeting of the full council has now formally rejected the plan and the Council’s response will be submitted to the Scottish Government’s Engergy Minister, Fergus Ewing. The Council’s response includes its preference for burying the line. However Scottish Power maintains that this option is too expensive and will delay the project.