Protect The Galloway Glens (TEST)

Call on the Scottish Government and Scottish Power Energy Networks to underground the proposed reinforced power line through the heart of Galloway.

Scottish Power Energy Network, who are owned by Spanish energy giant Iberdrola, plan to replace 47.8km of overhead transmission line with taller pylons across the heart of Galloway.

The Kendoon to Tongland 132kV Reinforcement Project (KTR) will have significant adverse effects on this precious landscape; affecting users of recreational paths, roads and viewpoints and see the felling of nearly 350 hectares of trees, including 45 hectares of designated Native or Ancient Semi Natural Woodland; a major and significant impact. The project will also require seven new quarries to be mined.

Despite this, the company’s report on the project claims there will be no significant effects on:

Watercourses - there are over 220 watercourse crossings in the project, several of them major rivers, and all draining into the Loch Ken / River Dee catchment area.
Peat – although the presence of peat is noted for several of the sections little on-site investigation has been carried out.
Ecology - loss of habitat, especially broadleaved woodland, dismissed in the report as not significant.
Ornithology - despite an 80m wide swathe being cut through countryside where a whole host of rare species have been recorded as occupying and breeding
Cultural Heritage; 72 cultural heritage assets are directly affected by the project.
Traffic and transport - despite an estimated 252,514 extra HGV, LGV and car/van movements resulting from the proposals, using many single-track roads.

Photo: Phil McMenemy

The project will also have significant and adverse long-term impacts on tourism and recreation – a key rural industry - especially for users of the Core Path network, outdoor tourist destinations, visitor accommodation and recreational activities in the countryside.

Most worrying of all, the impact on climate change has not been specifically assessed in any detail.

Scottish Greens are calling on the Scottish Government and SPEN to underground the entire route. This is more expensive but it is exactly the kind of long-term infrastructure project that is worthy of investment through the Green New Deal. 17% of the national grid in England and Wales is undergrounded and, with increasing extreme weather events caused by climate change, having the power cables underground is not only less impactful on the environment it is also more secure and stable.

We need to make it clear to ministers that we want to see rural infrastructure investment that benefits the environment, not harms it.

Please take action now by submitting an objection to this as soon as possible and before Thursday 13th November.

Photo: Phil McMenemy

_{All photos with kind permission of Phil McMenemy:}

_{Website: www.philmcmenemy.smugmug.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/GalleryPhil Facebook: www.facebook.com/GalleryAtLaurieston}

Please add your name and address to the letter in BLOCK CAPITALs before submitting:

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I am writing to object to the Kendoon to Tongland Reinforcement (KTR) proposals as submitted by Scottish Power Electricity Networks (SPEN) under references ECU00002124, ECU00002125, ECU00002126, ECU00002127 and ECU00002128.

The Glenkens area of Dumfries and Galloway, comprising the River Dee valley from Carsphairn to Kirkcudbright, is renowned for its scenic qualities and is the subject of an active campaign for Dumfries and Galloway to be designated as the third Scottish National Park. Despite this it is situated in one of the most economically deprived parts of Scotland, subject to low levels of prosperity and limited job prospects. The economy of the area is heavily dependent on tourism; one of the few sectors with any prospect of increasing employment opportunities.

SPEN’s decision to apply for an overhead transmission line (OHL) has been informed by a narrow view of the trade-off between environmental and economic considerations. Lesser value has been assigned to environmental issues which include impacts on tourism and recreation, the loss of scenic quality, felling of over 340 hectares of woodland, including 45 hectares of native or ancient semi-natural woodland, development of seven quarries, impacts on watercourses, peat deposits, cultural heritage assets, and loss of habitat and disturbance to bird populations.

The underground option greatly reduces, or eliminates completely, impacts on landscape character and visual effects arising from KTR along the whole of its length from Polquhanity to Tongland, and reduces hugely all other environmental impacts in comparison with the OHL. In opting for the overhead transmission line, greater weight has been given to the economic cost of the underground option against the cheaper overhead connection. It is more difficult to assess the economic value of the environmental aspects; however taking a broader view, where enhancing the scenic qualities of the area would play a part in reviving the economy of Glenkens has not been factored into SPEN’s considerations. Furthermore the assessment of the OHL takes no account of the potential carbon emissions which would result from the OHL option, with its forestry and woodland felling, possible peat damage and removal and more than 250,000 vehicle movements.

The EIA report focuses on designated features and assets, and attaches value to only these. The impacts on the intervening rural, attractive countryside is less considered; however it is the widespread unspoilt countryside of the Glenkens, and its ecological richness that are in large part the appeal for tourists of all sorts, and strongly underpin the economy of the area.
The proposed OHL, when completed, would replace the existing overhead transmission line to the east of Loch Ken and SPEN consider that this offsets some of the adverse visual impacts of the proposal. While this might be the case, the choice of the overhead option misses an opportunity to enhance the scenic quality of Glenkens and reinforce the case for designation as Scotland’s third National Park. Undergrounding of electricity transmission is being undertaken in numerous parts of the UK as a scenic enhancement measure. The sensitivity of the landscape in the Glenkens, and the dependence of the economy on tourism would justify such a measure here.

Under the terms of their agreement to provide a distribution network, SPEN are obliged to take account of environmental considerations and balance them with the economic cost of constructing the necessary infrastructure. In this instance they have chosen to safeguard the interests of shareholders and company directors above the prosperity and economic wellbeing of Glenkens residents and visitors. It is for the Scottish Government to take a broader, balanced view and take the opportunity to demand investment in infrastructure for the future which respects both the people and landscape of Glenkens. For these reasons I hope that the overhead option proposed for KTR will be refused and that SPEN will be required to adopt the underground route for the whole of the KTR line.

Regards

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Call on the Scottish Government and Scottish Power Energy Networks to underground the proposed reinforced power line through the heart of Galloway.

Please take action now by submitting an objection to this as soon as possible and before Thursday 13th November.

All photos with kind permission of Phil McMenemy:

Website: www.philmcmenemy.smugmug.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/GalleryPhil Facebook: www.facebook.com/GalleryAtLaurieston

Please add your name and address to the letter in BLOCK CAPITALs before submitting:

People powered politics

_{All photos with kind permission of Phil McMenemy:}

_{Website: www.philmcmenemy.smugmug.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/GalleryPhil Facebook: www.facebook.com/GalleryAtLaurieston}